Leather Industry Takes Panning From Government

The Government has expressed disappointment with leather and leather product exporters, after the country’s foreign exchange earnings fell short of expectations and previous performances.

Export revenue in the first quarter of the 2013/14 fiscal year amounted to 628 million dollars. This is just 71.4pc of the government’s plan for the period and 10pc lower than the same period a year ago.

According to the Ministry of Trade’s (MoT) report, the target for the first quarter was 880.1 million dollars, but a decrease in the volume of major export items like coffee and gold has contributed to the decline.

It was against this background that Tadesse Haile, state minister for Industry, disapproved of what he called the ‘disastrous’ performance in the export of leather and leather products.

“I have been to the factories of many of you and we have been trying to address your problems,” Tadesse recalled while making his opening speech, on Thursday, December 12, 2013, at the National Workshop on Technological Options for Better Environmental Sustainability of the Ethiopian Tanning Industry at the Ghion Hotel located at Ras Desta Damtew Street. “The result has, nevertheless, been very disappointing.”

Leather and leather products earned 32.1 million dollars in the first quarter of the current fiscal year. Although the amount has increased by 7.3 million dollars compared to the figure for the same period in the previous year, it still falls short of meeting the target.

“Your companies and your contribution are part and parcel of the overall economy,” Tadesse told tanners. “So you cannot afford to slow down or decrease your volume of export.”

Tanners and experts in the industry gathered on that day to deliberate on ways of attaining better environmental sustainability. It is a high time for the leather industry to opt for proven technologies to primarily meet the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) norms and to gain greater sustainability.

“I appeal to all the Ethiopian tanners to take full advantage of this workshop to attain better environmental sustainability,” he added.

Ethiopia has started implementing effluent treatment plants in individual tanneries. It has the advantage of big tanneries, which mostly process about at least 10 tonnes a day, generating about 400 cubic metres in a day. Currently, Ethiopia has about 30 tanneries.

The leather industry uses large amounts of water and chemicals and risks animal and plant health unless due attention is given to waste disposal systems, director general of the Leather Industry Development Institute (LIDI), Wondu Legesse, said. “Hence, it is necessary to avail waste disposal systems along with factories installations.”

Although expected to comply with requirements by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) norms and to gain greater sustainability, Ethiopian tannery industries, for their part, face some difficulties in doing so.

“Raw materials have increased in price three to four fold,” says Abdissa Adugna, representing the Ethiopian Leather Industry Association (ELIA). “This has created huge problems for tanners in developing capital for their environmental systems.”

Currently, most of the tanneries have primary treatment plants in place, whereas few have primary and secondary treatment systems. A few do not have treatment plants at all. But, even in those with treatment plants, the operation system is questionable, mainly due to the lack of technically trained operators, operational and maintenance issues of electro-mechanical equipment and the availability of chemicals.

Options, such as high exhaustion tanning methods, recycling and reuse methodologies and the minimisation of tanned solid wastes, among others, were presented at the workshop by experts from the Central Leather Research Institute (CSIR) of India.

Source: Addis Fortune