Brazil’s leather industry has started 2026 on a weak note. According to data from SECEX analyzed by CICB, Brazilian leather exports of hides and skins in January 2026 stood at $75.5 million. This is a sharp drop of 22.9% compared to January 2025. It is also 21.5% lower than December 2025 when exports had reached $96.2 million.
In volume terms the fall is even more visible. Shipments touched 12.3 million square meters and 50 thousand tons. That means exports fell 27.0% in area and 15.9% in weight compared to January last year. Against December the decline was 27.3% in area and 22.8% in weight.
For the full year 2025 Brazil exported $1.13 billion worth of leather. That was already 9.8% lower than 2024. Now 2026 has begun with another setback.
When it comes to destinations, China Remains No 1 but Slows, China continues to be Brazil’s biggest buyer.
In January 2026 China alone imported $24.9 Million worth of Brazilian leather. If we add Hong Kong the number reaches $25.2 Milion. China’s share stands at 33.1% in value but purchases dropped 25.1% compared to last year.
The United States is in second place. It imported $10.1 Million in January 2026. Unlike others the US showed resilience with a 1.5% rise in value.
Italy ranks third with imports of $7.60 Million. But the fall here is steep. Italian buying dropped 45.4% year on year.
Among the top three only the United States recorded positive growth. China and Italy both pulled down overall performance.
Europe is still struggling with economic pressure and geopolitical issues. In Asia demand remains uneven and factories slowed down ahead of the Chinese New Year that just took place in February. That also affected buying patterns notes CICB.
However sales to Mexico, South Korea and Spain showed improvement giving some hope for diversification.
Now, lets look at the type of leather exported
When we look at types of leather the trend is clearly negative. Wet blue leather exported $23.5 Million in January 2026 down 23.3% from last year.
Split wet blue brought $5.76 Million falling 42.8%.
Crust leather exports were $5.05 Million showing a sharp drop of 45.2%.
Finished leather performed relatively better but still declined 22.4% to $33.5 Million.
The only segment that moved up was salted hides. Its export value jumped 73.9% to $5.74 Million. The rise also came with an 18.8% increase in weight showing better price realisation.
In simple terms every major value added leather category saw contraction. The biggest hit came in crust and split wet blue.
