Rumors of deals offered by a few cow hide sellers brought moderate demand from Chinese buyers overnight on May 21. The cow hide market was active on Wednesday May 22, with trades at lower price levels than last reported.

Northern branded and southwestern branded cow hides traded $0.50 per piece lower than the last reported trades, at $7 per piece and $6.50 per piece respectively. A seller said the decreases in price were to offer discounts if buyers sent deposits or letters of credit for their previously purchased material.

Several buyers, particularly from China, had purchased material at higher price levels several weeks prior but did not send payment.

Historically, when hide prices took a significant downturn in a short period of time, buyers refused to pay for the hides and hoped to rework their previous contracts. In this situation, sellers occasionally offered new hides at a discount, so the buyers averaged down their prices.

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