Files
Abstract
Hide prices in 1963 declined to their lowest level since the early 1930's. Average prices for heavy native steer hides, Chicago, fell from 15 cents a pound in 1962 to 11 cents a pound in 1963. Cash prices for most other hides declined similarly while calf and kip prices fell by about 40 percent from their 1962 levels. As hide prices continued their rapid and sizeable decline during 1963, hide buyers placed more emphasis on quality, and many hide dealers had difficulty moving poor quality hides at any price. This was especially true of firms marketing country-locker or butcher hides. Many packers and dealers reported throwing No. 3 hides into rendering tanks. The drop in hide prices only slightly affected finished leather prices and had almost no effect on leather footwear prices. The index of hide and skin prices (1957-59 base) fell 21 points--from 106 in 1962 to 85 in 1963--while the finished leather price index fell only 6 points during the corresponding period. Indexes of leather footwear prices remained almost constant at 108 in 1962 and 1963.