Several US hide sellers reported that demand from Chinese tanners was moderate for a holiday week, but price changes on Thursday October 3 were minimal.

The ongoing port strike created difficulty for a few sellers that ship out of the US East and Gulf Coasts, but the market was more optimistic about future direction following the increased global opposition to the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), sources told Fastmarkets.

The Golden Week holiday in China and Japan left some buyers absent from the hide market, but several buyers remained interested in packer material at flat prices.

Sellers said they were pleasantly surprised by the number of bids received for a holiday week, and sales brought several sellers to “the best position we’ve been in all year,” one trader said.

With improved demand and well-moving inventory, Fastmarkets’ analysts believe that an increase in hide prices is likely in the near term.

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