February 2024
There is a change at the top of IULTCS, the International Union of Leather Technologists and Chemists Societies
There is a change at the top of IULTCS, the International Union of Leather Technologists and Chemists Societies, the supranational body that brings together 19 Member Societies and 6 Associate Members representing some 3000 individual members.
As of 1 January 2024, Dr Joan Carles Castell is the new IULTCS President, taking over from Frenchman Jean-Pierre Gualino, who has completed his two-year term.
According to the IULTCS statutes the aims of the Union are to foster cooperation between member societies, to hold congresses to further the advancement of leather science and technology, to form commissions for special studies and to establish international methods of samples and testing leather and materials associated with leather manufacture.
The IULTCS organisation has held 37 congresses in twenty different countries on five continents, with the most recent being held in Chengdu, China in 2023. The next one will be in 2025 in Lyon.
In the first half of 2026, turnover fell by 2.5 per cent and production by 4.6 per cent. Europe holds steady, whilst the Middle East slumps. 1,884 jobs were lost in six months – more than in the whole of 2025.
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In the first half of 2026, the German footwear and leather goods industry remained stable, albeit at low levels. Amid price rises linked to the war with Iran and new European waste regulations, Italy saw a decline in volumes but maintained its value.
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In 2025, global production remains at 24.6 billion pairs (+0.1 per cent), whilst the value of exports rises by 1.6 per cent to 172 billion dollars. Asia produces 88.7 per cent of shoes, whilst China’s share of exports falls to 61.2 per cent.
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