HIDES 



AND SKINS 



THE LEATHEE INDUSTRIES 



Bombay 

 Supply. 



Karachi 

 Supply. 



Provincial 

 Production. 



Imports. 



Exports 

 Raw. 



Mainly from 

 Calcutta. 



Very largely 

 to Germany. 



Prices. 



Exports 

 Tanned and 

 Dressed. 



Traffic to 

 Burma. 



20,705 cwt.; Panjab, 19,289 cwt. ; and from the United Provinces, 5,441 cwt. 

 MADRAS PRESIDENCY is third in importance with 217,674 cwt., derived 

 chiefly from Mysore, 77,677 cwt. ; from its own port towns, 61,434 cwt. 

 from Bombay (5,518 cwt.) ; from the Nizam's Territory (29,968 cwt.) 

 BOMBAY PORT takes the fourth position with a supply of 149,048 cwt., derived 

 chiefly from its own Presidency, 68,823 cwt. ; Panjab, 28,765 cwt. ; United 

 Provinces, 23,419 cwt. ; Central Provinces, 13,272 cwt. ; Madras, 5,462 cwt. 

 Then comes KARACHI with 139,107 cwt., derived mainly from the Panjab, 

 100,404 cwt. ; Sind, 37,385 cwt. ; and from the United 'Provinces, 842 cwt. 

 Lastly the PANJAB with a total supply of 113,973 cwt., derived chiefly 

 from Rajputana and Central India, 32,978 cwt. ; and from the United 

 Provinces, 58,782 cwt. Looking at these figures from the point of view of 

 EXPORTS, the Bengal Province supplies 357,794 cwt. : the United Provinces 

 464,376 cwt. ; Madras 368,127 cwt. ; the Panjab 296,576 cwt. ; Bombay 

 171,746 cwt.; Mysore 117,866 cwt. ; Rajputana and Central India 118,613 

 cwt. ; Central Provinces and Berar 122,774 cwt. ; the Nizam's Territory 

 86,183 cwt.; Sind 54,559 cwt.; and E. Bengal and Assam 234,810 cwt. 

 Thus, so far as the foreign trade is concerned, the supplies come mainly 

 from Bengal and the United Provinces. Cawnpore is the great emporium 

 of leather production in India, and the supplies of hides and skins procured 

 by the tanneries of that town must be very largely drawn from local supplies, 

 seeing that the imports are comparatively unimportant. This fact necessarily 

 raises the United Provinces into the position of greatest importance in the 

 hide trade. 



Coastwise. Turning now to the coastwise transactions, it is ascertained 

 that the total IMPORTS of raw hides do not normally exceed 25 to 30 thousand 

 cwt., valued at 10 lakhs of rupees ; of raw skins about 15 thousand cwt., valued 

 at 7^ lakhs of rupees ; and of dressed and tanned hides and skins about 6J thousand 

 cwt., valued at 6 lakhs of rupees. 



Exports. In the Review of the Trade of India for 1904-5 it is shown 

 that, according to the declared values, the prices of hides rose steadily 

 during the preceding four years, the average price for 1904-5 being 11 '4 

 per cent, in excess of that for the previous year. The corresponding 

 price of skins, on the other hand, fell 13'1 per cent. The number of raw 

 hides and skins exported collectively came to 31,606,246, valued at Es. 

 7,05,35,585 the shares being 8,722,520 hides and 22,883,726 skins. The 

 value of the raw hides exported from Calcutta was 84'6 per cent, of the 

 total trade. They were consigned to the Continent mainly, Germany taking 

 144| lakhs ; Italy 66 lakhs ; Austria-Hungary 51| lakhs ; and Spain 22 

 lakhs. This left 23 lakhs consigned to the United Kingdom, and 40| lakhs 

 to the United States. Calcutta also contributes 75'6 per cent, of the total 

 value of the foreign exports in dried and pickled skins. About the same 

 percentage (in value) of the foreign exports is usually drawn from India 

 by the United States. Of the balance, France claimed 29| lakhs, and 

 the United Kingdom 25J lakhs. The demand in France seems to be 

 increasing. The later Review for 1905-6 states that the price of hides 

 continued to rise, the average value per cwt. increasing from Ks. 52-4-8 

 in 1904-5 to Es. 55-7-0 ; while that of skins continued to fall, viz. from 

 Ks. 91-1-6 per cwt. in 1904-5 to Es. 90-7-1 per cwt. The number of 

 hides and skins exported in 1906-7 collectively came to 39,806,281 

 the shares being 12,917,227 hides and 26,889,054 skins. 



TANNED HIDES AND SKINS. The most significant feature of the 

 coastwise returns, abundantly confirmed by most statistical statements 

 of the Indian trade in hides and skins, may be said to be the fact 

 that Madras is by far the most important centre for dressed skins, and 

 that Burma is the chief coastwise market for them. Eecently, however, 

 Bengal has begun to participate largely in this Burmese supply. After 

 Burma, Bombay affords the next most important local outlet for Madras 



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