Bata pushes for ban of hides exports

Published: 24 June 2014

THE country's biggest shoe manufacturer, Bata Shoe Company, is pushing for Government to ban the exportation ofraw hides which the Gweru-based company said was starving tanners of their basic raw material and the shoe manufacturers of locally produced and value-added leather.

Speaking at the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) workshop on the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim Asset) in Gweru last week, Bata managing director Ronjoy Sengputa said the shoe manufacturer was facing serious challenges in the procurement of leather.

Sengputa said Government was losing potential revenue through the exportation of raw hides by hide collectors.

"We are facing serious challenges in the procurement of leather. We have discussed this with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development.

"Until last year we had consumed 1,6 million square feet of leather which is about 90 percent of the leather industry in terms of tanning and using the leather in the country. Bata is offering the highest rate to farmers, we are the highest payers of leather and rates offered to any hide collector or farmer in the country.

"However, none of the hide collectors are offering to sell us the hides. They opt to collect them and export for reasons better known to them," he said

Sengputa said Government should evaluate whether it was worth it to export raw hides or export value added leather which can enable Government to generate 60 percent more revenue as compared to just exporting raw hides.

He said Bata had also doubled its production and increased its workforce.

Bata ramped up production to 83 percent of its production capacity from about 40 percent.

"Besides the challenges that we are facing, the good thing is that Bata has increased its production. We have also increased our workforce to over 800 workers in the factory," he said.

Bata had scaled down production to 40 percent. It used to produce 10 million pairs of shoes per year with a workforce of 5 000 while operating at full throttle.

The figures had dwindled to two million pairs of shoes annually and it now employs 1 300 workers.

The company is facing challenges in sourcing quality raw hides as local cattle ranchers were exporting their hides.

ZimAsset's value addition and beneficiation strategy envisages improved capacity utilisation in the leather industry through building the capacity of smale scale leather products manufacturers and production of an additional million pairs of shoes and in the process creation of 5 610 jobs.

While it is the Ministry of Agriculture's duty to support cattle production processing of products such as hides by established tanneries would be overseen by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce while SMEs involved in leather enterprises would have oversight of the Ministry of Small to Medium Enterprises and Co-operative Development.

Speaking at the same workshop, Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce Chiratidzo Mabuwa urged Bata to consider contract farming so that they would get adequate raw materials.

"Bata has raised the issue of procurement problems. There is a need for the company to start facilitating the selling of excess hides. This would reduce unsustainable business transactions facilitated by fly by night companies who want to make quick money and go," she said.
- BH24

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