Why US hide export figures were wrong for years

摘要

In the first five months of 2015, tanners and traders in the US exported more than 11.1 million hides, which brought in export revenues of just over $1 billion. Of these hides, wet blue accounted for 30% of the volume and 35% of the value, with fresh and wet salted hides making up the rest. The figures represent a fall in volume of 39% and a decline in value of 11.2% compared with the same period in 2014. This fall in numbers will come as little surprise to anyone who has kept an eye on the actual slaughter figures published each week by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which week after week show that cattle slaughter in the US is in a downward cycle.