Leather Chemicals Market

Leather Chemicals Market Outlook - 2027

The global leather chemicals market size was valued at $7.5 billion in 2019, and is projected to reach $11.0 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 6.4% from 2020 to 2027.

COVID-19 has negatively impacted on the global leather chemicals market due downfall in the production of leather production, disruption of logistical services, and delayed shipments.

Leather chemicals are broadly categorized into tanning and dyeing chemicals, beam house chemicals, and finishing chemicals. Tanning chemicals consists of chemicals that are used to convert raw hide into leather. Widely used tanning chemicals are vegetable tannin, mineral salts, and animal oil. Depending upon type of tanning chemicals utilized for tanning, leather products are categorized into vegetable tanned leather, synthetic tanned leather, alum tanned leather, aldehyde tanned leather, and chromium tanned leather. Dyeing chemicals include surfactants, degreasers, sodium formate, sodium bicarbonate, neutralizing syntans, formic acid, and chrome syntans, chromium sulphate. These chemicals are used to impart properties such as softness, desired color to leather, enhanced dispersion of dyes, penetrate dyes, and neutralize pH during chemical process. Beam house chemicals are those leather chemicals that are used to treat in various stages such as trimming, soaking, fleshing, and unhairing. Beamhouse chemicals include soaking auxiliaries, liming auxiliaries, enzymes, and de-liming auxiliaries. 

Leather chemicals market growth factors such as increase in utilization of leather chemicals in end-use industries such as footwear and textile industries. Aesthetically pleasing leather footwear and enhanced production of leather footwear have increased the use of leather chemicals such as syntans, polymers, dyeing auxiliaries, and fatliquor. Leather chemicals offer properties such as improved resistance to molds, smoothness, and adhesiveness, there by fueling their demand, globally. Other uses of leather chemicals such as chromium sulphates, formic acid, sodium bicarbonate, and degreasers are gaining importance, due to rise in utilization of these chemicals for pH neutralization, reduction of pH in rechroming process, and adhere dyehouse chemicals to leather. However, tanned leather produces wastewater that includes sulfides and chromium, which are imparting negative impact on the environment and workers. This is the major factor that is anticipated to hamper the global leather chemicals market during the forecast period. On the contrary, the development of tanning process is expected to reduce formation of chromium and sulfides in water, which is likely to uncover new revenue opportunities during the forecast period.   

The global leather chemicals market is segmented into chemicals type, end-user, and region. On the basis of chemicals type, the market is categorized into tanning & dyeing chemicals, beam house chemicals, and finishing chemicals. By end user, it is fragmented into footwear, furniture, automotive, textile & fashion, and others. Region wise, the global leather chemicals market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. Presently, Asia-Pacific accounts for the largest share of the market, followed by Europe and North America. Asia-Pacific leather chemicals market share was 52.0% in 2019 accounting for $3.7 billion. Leather chemicals market trend such as advancements of chrome tanning equipment is the major factor that is contributing towards the highest market share of global market in Asia-Pacific region. The major companies profiled in this report include Lanxess AG, Clariant AG, Solvay, Arkema SA, Eastman Chemical Company, Evonik Industries AG, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, Stahl Holdings B.V., Elementis PLC, and Indofil Industries Limited.

Leather chemicals market, by region

The Asia-Pacific leather chemicals market dominated the market share in 2019 and is projected to continue its dominance in the forecast period, owing to the presence of well-established leather tanneries and increase in consumer base for leather footwear. China is the major producer of pigskin and pigskin leather, which is an important raw material for production of leather products. In addition, leather industry witness rapid growth in countries such as Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Taiwan. The growth is majorly attributed to low labor cost and presence of large number of medium-& small-sized tanneries, which, in turn, have boosted the demand for leather chemicals in Asia-Pacific.

Leather chemicals market, by chemical type

In 2019, the tanning & dyeing was the largest revenue generator and is predicted to rise with CAGR of 6.1% in the forecast period. The growth was attributed to the ability of tanning & dyeing chemicals to enhance softness and flexibility of leather products. Furthermore, these dispersion chemicals are gaining more importance in tanning process, owing to their structural difference and help to enhance look of leather products and complementing the growth of this market. 

Leather chemicals market, by end-user 

In 2019, the footwear segment generated the highest revenue and is predicted to reach $2.4 billion by the end of forecast period. This was attributed to rise in population and surge in consumer demand for leather footwear. Moreover, the footwear industry is an important source of employment in developing countries. Development of the footwear industry is predicted to increase the number of employments in coming years. 

Key findings of the study

• Porter’s five forces analysis helps analyze the potential of buyers & suppliers and the competitive scenario of the industry for strategy building.
• It outlines the current trends and future estimations from 2019 to 2027 to understand the prevailing opportunities and potential investment pockets.
• The major countries in the region have been mapped according to their individual revenue contribution to the regional market.
• The key drivers, restraints, and opportunities and their detailed impact analysis are explained in the study.
• The profiles of key players and their key strategic developments are enlisted in the report.

Impact Of Covid-19 On The Global Leather Chemicals Market

• The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected the global economy and has resulted in subsequent decline of the GDP in global economies, thereby changing consumer spending patterns.
• Travel restrictions have been imposed to curb the spread of virus. These restriction have reduced the supply of raw materials required for manufacturing of leather, which, in turn, has negatively affected the market growth during the pandemic.
• Exports of leather products have shrunk due to COVID-19 and have reduced the use of leather chemicals for production. Temporary shutdown of leather manufacturing facilities has further hampered the leather chemicals market growth.
• Downfall in the production of leather has declined the production of leather footwear, which acts as a major restraint of the market.
• Dearth of labor, disruption of logistical services, and delayed shipments have led to downfall in the production of leather products, which are widely used in automotive and fashion industries. Thus, reduced demand of leather products from major consumers such as automotive has limited the growth of the leather chemicals market.

 Leather Chemicals Market Report Highlights