Leather Gloves

Sector Brief
The objective of this short write-up is to provide the reader with an overview of the
sector. The information covers global trade of the product, status of Pakistan’s
exports and summary of industry structure. Trade informatio n for global comparisons
has been obtained from PC-TAS, International Trade Centre’s Database. Latest
available export data on Pakistan has been obtained from the Federal Bureau of
Statistics, Pakistan.

Revised on July 12, 2002

Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority

Government of Pakistan
www.smeda.org.pk

HEAD OFFICE
st
Waheed Trade Complex, 1 Floor , 36-Commercial Zone, Phase III, Sector XX, Khayaban-e-Iqbal, DHA Lahore
Tel: (042) 111-111-456, Fax: (042) 5896619, 5899756
helpdesk@smeda.org.pk
REGIONAL OFFICE REGIONAL OFFICE REGIONAL OFFICE REGIONAL OFFICE
PUNJAB SINDH NWFP BALOCHISTAN
Waheed Trade Complex, 5 TH Floor, Bahria Ground Floor Bungalow No. 15-A
st
1 Floor, 36-Commercial Complex II, M.T. Khan State Life Building Chaman Housing
Zone, Road, Karachi. The Mall, Peshawar. Scheme
Phase III, Sector XX, Tel: (021) 111-111-456 Tel: (091) 9213046-47 Airport Road, Quetta.
Khayaban-e-Iqbal, DHA Fax: (021) 5610572 Fax: (091) 286908 Tel: (081) 831623,
Lahore. helpdesk- 831702
helpdesk-
Tel: (042) 111-111-456 khi@smeda.org.pk pew@smeda.org.pk Fax: (081) 831922
Fax: (042) 5896619, helpdesk-
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helpdesk@smeda.org.pk
1. Introduction:

Leather is one of the most valuable and important international trading commodities. In
1999 the international leather trade value was above US$ 41 billion which can be divided
into five major categories i.e. finished leather, leather garments, leather gloves, leather goods
and leather gloves. Major exporters of leather include Italy, China and the Republic of Korea
exporting up to 43% of the total international market of leather. The leather industry has
been on a decline, for the last five years1 with an average growth rate of –2%. On the
international horizon 1999 was the worst year for leather products (7% decline in
international exports) which could be attributed to a high slaughter of cows in Europe,
which were infected from what is called the mad cow disease.

Pakistan’s share in the international market is hovering at about 1.5% from the last five
years, earning an average foreign exchange of US$ 681 million per annum. According to
Federal Bureau of Statistics data, Pakistan exports for the year 2001 were about US$ 763
million. Out of total leather exports, leather gloves accounts for 2.10%.

2. Global Perspective

The global export market in leather gloves has been valued at nearly $869 million in 1999.
The five year trend shows negative growth (-3%) for leather gloves and in 1999 exports fell
by 8% while its share as a sub commodity of leather has decreased from 2.22% to 2.1%.
Table 1:
Value in $ million
LEATHER GLOVES 84812 & 89477
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
WORLD 1,003 971 1,005 945 869
Growth % -3% 3% -6% -8%

Leather gloves exports can be further divided into two major classes i.e. for sports (35%)
and not for sports gloves (65%). The leading exporter of leather gloves is China, which
captured a share of 50% of total exports of gloves in 1999. Pakistan was second by capturing
11% and Indonesia third having 7% share of the total export market of leather gloves.
Table 2:
Value in $ million
Major Exporters 84812 & 89477
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 % Share 99
CHINA 505 433 483 445 432 49.70%
PAKISTAN 98 96 101 96 99 11.34%
THAILAND 41 47 51 56 44 5.05%
INDONESIA 79 70 51 52 59 6.83%
PHILIPPINES 30 56 48 42 20 2.27%
ITALY 27 36 38 34 26 2.94%
Other 224 232 234 220 190 21.87%

1
Here data for the years 1995-99 is used for international comparison, which is the latest available.
The leading importer of leather gloves is U.S.A. for the last five years having nearly 34% of
the total import market. Hong Kong imported nearly 15% of leather gloves imports in 1999.
Table 3:
Value in $ million
Major Importers 84812 & 89477
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 % Share 99
World 1626 1614 1608 1500 1326 100.00%
USA 514 492 510 492 446 33.61%
HONG KONG 263 260 264 233 193 14.58%
GERMANY 173 154 152 140 118 8.92%
JAPAN 129 127 108 87 84 6.33%
CANADA 68 75 71 74 58 4.38%
FRANCE 63 76 77 68 69 5.23%
U.K. 81 65 68 63 53 4.01%

3. Pakistan:

In 1999 the value of export earnings for leather gloves was $98.6 million which is 16.51% of
the total leather exports for Pakistan. The five-year trend shows that there are a lot of
inconsistencies in the growth rate. However in 1999 while the global export growth rates
declined by 8%, Pakistan’s export growth rate increased by 3%.
Table 4:
Value in $ million
Pakistan Exports Leather Gloves
Years 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Value 97.7 95.9 100.6 96.0 98.6
Growth % -2% 5% -5% 3%

For international comparisons the data used here is for the year 1999, data is also available
for Pakistan for the year 2001 and according to which there is a significant increase in
exports i.e. by 5.47%, from $98.6 million in 1999 to $104 million in 2000-2001.

Some of the leading importers from Pakistan for leather gloves include the USA, which in
1999 imported gloves valuing $19.07 million (19.35%), Germany, which had a share of
19.24% in 1999 and France with 11.59% of total Pakistani gloves exports of 1999.
Table 5:
Pakistan Trading Partners Value in $ million
1998 1999
Country % Share Value % Share Value
USA 19.60% 18.81 19.35% 19.07
GERMANY 21.43% 20.57 19.24% 18.97
FRANCE 12.71% 12.20 11.59% 11.43
UNITED KINGDOM 11.83% 11.36 9.47% 9.33
ITALY 8.68% 8.33 7.60% 7.49
SPAIN 3.88% 3.72 4.83% 4.76
Within leather gloves are included items such as fancy gloves, industrial gloves, sports
gloves, mittens, and textile fabric gloves. The most popular item in 2000-2001 was simple
leather sports gloves, which accounted for nearly 65% of the total export value of leather
gloves by Pakistan.
Table 6:
Value in $ million
Leather Gloves
Commodity Value Value
Gloves, Leather, Fancy 17.8472 19.474
Gloves Leather, Industrial 11.982 18.1109
Mitten and Mitts of Leather 0 0.04574
Gloves, Leather, Sports 69.6385 65.783
Gloves, Textile Fabrics, Sports 1.4489 0.38112
Mittens and Mitts, Sports 0.15206 0.1677
Total 101.069 103.962

Exchange Rate Rs/US$ 51.8 1999-2000

Exchange Rate US$ 58 2000-01

3.1. Industry Structure:

Total Gloves installed capacity in 1994 in Pakistan was 89 million and has been providing
employment to more than 11 thousand people. The largest concentration of units for gloves
production is in Sialkot where 315 units are located, which is nearly 90% of the total number
of units in Pakistan while 91% of the employment of this sub sector is generated by the
same city. The second largest is Karachi where about 27 units are located.
Table 7:
Leather Gloves Production In Pakistan
Cities Units Installed Capacity (Mill. Gloves) Employment
Sialkot 315 79.69 10545
Karachi 27 7.44 870
Lahore 3 1.84 155
Gujranwala 1 0.04 10
Multan 1 0.11 12
Total 347 89.12 11,592