Hide demand from Chinese shoe tanners was the most active on Tuesday July 30, but demand from the automotive, upholstery and handbag sectors remained slower than usual, sources told Fastmarkets.

Lower-end steer hides, such as branded steers (BRS), were in demand from shoe tanners, but more sellers reported being well sold on the selections and unable to offer much volume, if any at all.

The price spread between regular-weight BRS hides and butt branded steer (BBS) hides — a higher-end steer hide — has tightened significantly over the past two months to a difference of $3.00 per piece for packer selections.

The price spread between packer BRS and BBS hides on May 30 was $4.50 per piece. The tighter price spread and the continued interest for BRS hides led a few sellers to believe that BBS hides were unlikely to decrease further in the near term.

Cured and wet blue export shipments by selected countries through July 18