The All China Leather Exhibition (ACLE), the biggest leather industry related exhibition for the China market, drew impressive crowds during its run from September 4 to 6 at the Shanghai New International Exhibition Centre. The fair was significantly larger than in 2011, up by 10% in terms of exhibitors’ number. The halls and stands were packed with visitors throughout the three days of the fair. The Organisers report an increase of 16.25% in overall visitors with 22,204, compared to the 2011 total of 19,100. Visitors from China numbered 18,699, 20.22% more than last year, while overseas visitors came in at 3,138, increasing by 1.69%.
Top 10 provinces in China in terms of visitors’ attendance, in descending order, were Shanghai, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Hebei, Shandong, Fujian, Henan, Beijing, and finally Tianjin. Apart from China, the top 10 countries and regions were India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Italy, Turkey, USA, and Indonesia.
This year, there were 1,301 exhibitors representing practically the entire supply chain of the leather industry, from tanneries and tanning machinery producers to chemical companies and leather traders. They came from 41 countries, with 60.69% coming from China.
The biggest foreign participation came from focus country Turkey with 62 exhibitors at the clean, well styled Turkish Leather Brands pavilion showing exceptionally innovative leathers. The Turkish participation also featured the leather fashion collection “Future Travelers” of renowned Turkish designer Bora Aksu, who made use of leathers from various Turkish tanneries.
The Turkish exhibitors were busy throughout, despite the fact that they noted a slight drop in actual visitor numbers at their stands. Delegation head and chairman of the Turkish Leather Council, Mr. Lemi Tolunay noted: “Compared with last year, we find that we have less visitors but the orders are better. We are getting better quality buyers. There are a number of new buyers but mostly, we are serving existing Chinese customers with bigger orders. Double-face shearling is the number one performing item for the China market”.
Mr. Tolunay further reported that Turkish exports for leather and leathergoods in 2011 was USD1.5 billion but exports to China accounted for only USD90 million. “But this year we are expecting an increase to USD130 million. The good results for ACLE will contribute to that.” The Turkish were buoyed by the excellent outcome of their participation in this year’s ACLE that they have already booked an even bigger exhibition space for 2013 fair.