Leather Chemicals Market Share, Opportunities, Industry 2031

Report Description

Leather Chemicals Market Outlook 2031

The global leather chemicals market size was around USD 7.66 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 13.39 billion by 2031, expanding at a CAGR of around 6.4% during the forecast period, 2023 to 2031. The growth of the market is attributed to the increasing consumer demand for premium leather products in emerging economies.

Leather chemicals play an essential role in transforming raw animal skins into finished leather products. Leather products are daily used by humans for common purposes. These products include furniture, footwear, garments, automotive parts, and others. The consumer demand for leather goods is constantly rising globally owing to rising disposable incomes and fast fashion trends.

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Based on requirements, multiple chemical products are used in the leather manufacturing process. These chemical combinations are responsible for the texture, color, smoothness, and shape of the final leather products. The basic process involved in leather production is the beamhouse process. The chemicals involved in the beamhouse process are identified as beamhouse chemicals such as cleansing and degreasing chemicals. The process is followed by leather tanning for which tanning and dyeing chemicals are utilized.

Fatliquors, syntans (synthetic tanning agents), and dyes are major tanning chemicals used in the process. The main purpose of the tanning process is to ensure retaining the physical properties of the leather product. The tanning process also ensures the weather resistance of the leather product as well as maintains its softness. The last process involved in leather production is identified as leather finishing, it involves finishing chemicals.

The finishing chemicals aid in converting the leather crust into the final leather. The finishing chemicals largely aid in bringing certain properties to leather such as resistance against heat and water.

COVID-19 Impact on Leather Chemicals Market

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the global leather chemicals market growth owing to the slowdown in leather production activities, late shipments of raw materials, and disruption of logistics services. The COVID-19 pandemic brought a downtrend to global businesses which resulted in the reduction of GDP numbers across the worldwide economies.

The GDP decline changed consumer spending habits, which had a direct impact on the revenue numbers of various industries, one of which was the leather products manufacturing industry. The supply of raw materials for leather production was affected as the national governments across the world, imposed travel restrictions to stop the virus infection spread.

The lack of raw materials, labor restrictions, and workers’ safety issues lowered the production output of the leather goods which directly affected the market growth. The production of leather products such as footwear, automotive parts, and luxury fashion wear came down due to a lack of raw materials. The downfall of leather production acted as a major restraint for the global leather chemicals market.

Leather Chemicals Market Dynamics

The research report presents a complete overview by providing detailed information about the current market trends, existing drivers, growth opportunities and potentials, and emerging challenges. The global leather chemicals market report has up-to-date insights about market dynamics and market scenarios that can shape the overall market performance and output during the forecast period, 2023 to 2031.

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Major Trends

The rapidly changing fashion requirements among modern consumers are giving rise to the fast fashion trend across the world. Leather products are an essential part of the fashion industry. Clothes, footwear, bags, wallets, and various other fashionable products are manufactured with leather materials. The footwear industry uses almost half the leather that is produced worldwide. The rising global footwear demand is giving rise to leather production, thereby increasing the demand for leather chemicals.

Additionally, with the help of innovative production techniques, it’s possible to produce on a large scale within a limited time. The improved production method is efficiently aiding the manufacturers in the footwear and textile industries to timely meet the rising consumer fashion demands. Producing leather products on a large scale requires a consistently high supply of leather processing chemicals thus furthering the growth of the global leather chemicals market.

Key Drivers

Growing disposable personal income among the population of emerging economies is one of the major factors which is driving the growth of the global leather industry. The leather goods like clothes, footwear, and household furniture are highly considered a sign of a better standard of living in society. The increased spare income is enabling consumers to buy luxurious products for personal clothing as well as household furniture on a regular basis.

Leather products along with their aesthetic value, typically have a long-life cycle. To efficiently meet the increased demand for leather products, the manufacturers are scaling up their production which in turn rapidly increases the need for leather chemicals. The rising production of leather products to effectively meet the consumers’ demand is expected to drive the global leather chemicals market further in the coming years.

The automotive industry is one of the major industries that use leather products. Leather material aids in ensuring the comfort and premium feel of the vehicle. The number of luxury vehicles sold across developing countries is rising, thus increasing the need for high-scale luxury leather material in the automotive industry. Leather materials are widely used in vehicles to provide comfort and enhance the looks of vehicles, which is a key factor driving the global market.

Existing Restraints

The high operational cost of raw materials is a major factor hampering the global leather chemicals market. The rising cost of raw materials, commodities, equipment, technology, and freight services related to leather manufacturing is expected to affect the market growth during the forecast period. Additionally, the increasing labor cost is further adding to the operational expenses for the firms. The key players in the leather chemicals industry are increasing chemical product prices to counter the growth in input costs.

The leather tanning process produces wastewater that contains dangerous chemical elements such as chromium and sulfides and being exposed to such chemicals can be harmful to factory workers and the environment. Environmental concerns are rising across the world. National governments worldwide have imposed strict rules on chemical production companies.

Every company in the leather chemicals industry must adhere to strict guidelines imposed by governments These rising environmental concerns are expected to hamper the global leather chemicals market growth during the forecast period. The key companies in the industry are focusing on implementing several eco-friendly measures in their day-to-day operations.

Emerging Opportunities

The quality leather material demand is high in the footwear industry, textile industries, and automotive industries. Products from these industries are widely used across the globe which is why it is important to develop chemicals and processes that are eco-friendly in nature.

The key players in the global leather chemicals market are taking steps towards utilizing eco-friendly and bio-based platform chemicals through various research & development programs. The recent developments in the industry on reducing the formation of chromium and sulfides are likely to create opportunities for the market players during the forecast period.

Scope of Leather Chemicals Market Report

The global leather chemicals market research report includes an assessment of the market trends, segments, and regional markets. Overview and dynamics have also been included in the report.

Leather Chemicals Market Segment Insights

Footwear segment to hold major market share

Based on application, the global leather chemicals market is segmented into textile & fashion, automotive, furniture, footwear, and others. The footwear application segment held more than 47% share of the market revenue in 2021 and is anticipated to dominate the global market during the forecast period. Leather product is highly used in the footwear industry, which is driving the demand for leather chemicals in the footwear industry.

The growing population as well as fast fashion culture is driving the growth of the footwear segment in the market worldwide. The footwear industry manufactures components such as rubber, leather, textile, plastic, and metal. The footwear industry uses leather chemicals for purposes such as tanning, dyeing, and finishing. They are also essential in the filling and solidification of the crust. 

The furniture segment is anticipated to grow rapidly during the forecast period. Furniture products such as sofas, corner sofas, chairs, sleeper sofas, and footstools are made of leather material. Pigmented/protected, aniline, and semi-aniline are some of the majorly used leathers in the furniture industry. The leather chemicals industry consistently provides chemicals for tanning, retanning, waterproofing, beam housing, and fatliquoring process to furniture manufacturers.

The growth of the furniture segment is attributed to the increasing demand for premium leather furniture products in developing economies. The rising disposable income in emerging economies such as India and China is providing opportunities for people to enhance their lifestyles by adding premium furniture products to their households.

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Polyurethane resins segment to expand at a rapid pace

On the basis of product, the global market is categorized into sodium bicarbonate, surfactants, polyurethane resins, chromium sulfate, biocides, and others. The polyurethane resins segment held a major share of the market in 2021 and is expected to expand at a rapid pace during the forecast period. The segment growth is attributed to the rising use of polyurethane resins for leather processing.

The product is also used for making organic solvent-free finish formulations, basecoats, topcoats, and binders. Polyurethane resins contain soft and hard parts and are known for exceptional elasticity and robustness. Different performance standards required for leather products such as moisture permeability, hydrophilicity, heat resistance, abrasion resistance, and chemical resistance can be achieved by changing formulation methods.

The polyurethane resins product segment is expected to grow rapidly as they are considered more eco-friendly than vinyl-based leather products. The surfactants segment is projected to grow at a rapid pace in the coming years owing to the increasing use of surfactants in the leather manufacturing process. Surfactants are also known as surface-active agents.

The surfactants act as main reaction agents or emulsifiers and they are also beneficial in making leather water repellent, anti-electrostatic, and abrasion reduction agents. Furthermore, surfactants can also be used to ease the spreading of oil in water. Surfactants are proving to be increasingly beneficial for the leather manufacturing process, which is enabling the product segment to grow fast in the global leather chemicals market.

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Tanning & dyeing process constitute a major market share

In terms of process, the global leather chemicals market is divided into the beamhouse process, tanning & dyeing process, and finishing process. The tanning and dyeing segment held a major market share in 2021, and it is projected to witness significant growth in the coming years. The tanning & dyeing process is used for different leather manufacturing operations such as tanning, dyeing, drying, pickling, degreasing, shaving, re-tanning, and fatliquoring among others.

Tanning & dyeing chemicals aid in enhancing the flexibility and softness of the leather product. Additionally, these chemicals are also beneficial in enhancing the look of the finished leather products, which is significantly complementing the growth of the segment in the market. The beamhouse process segment is anticipated to witness the second-highest growth in the global leather chemicals market during the forecast period.

The beamhouse process involves the preparation, cleaning, and conditioning of the hides and skins before the tanning process. The process includes steps like wetting & soaking, liming & unhairing, and bating & deliming. The chemicals used in this process differ based on the type of hides or skins of the animals. Enzymes, sodium sulfide, sulfuric and formic acid, and degreasers are some of the products used for beamhouse processes.

Asia-Pacific projected to dominate the market

Based on region, the global market is categorized into Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, and Middle East & Africa. Asia-Pacific region held a major market share in 2021 and it is expected to dominate the global market in the coming years. The growth of the market is attributed to the increasing consumer base for various leather products and the presence of well-organized small & medium-sized leather tanneries in the region.

Additionally, the demand for footwear is consistently climbing high in the region owing to the largest population of developing economies India and China in the region. China produces the largest volume of pigskin and pigskin leather, which is one of the major raw materials used for the manufacturing of leather products around the world.

Moreover, the use of premium leather material in the automotive industry and textile industries is growing rapidly in the region, owing to which demand for leather chemicals is expected to constantly grow high in the region during the forecast period.

Europe is the next region which is expected to grow rapidly during the forecast period. The rising demand for high-quality leather products such as fashion wear, footwear, luxury vehicles, and upholstery among others in the region is enabling market growth at a quicker pace. The large disposable income enables people of the region to spend freely on the purchase of high-quality leather products.

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