Moroccan Leather

Moroccan leather has been known for centuries throughout the world for its good quality and reasonable price. It was also during the fourteenth century that we began to hear of "Morocco", a word which began to mean leather from goat and sheep from Morocco.

Working with leather is a tradition linked to many cities in Morocco such as Fez, Meknes, Marrakech, Rabat, Tetouan, Tangier, from which comes the major pruduction.

If you ever go to one of these amazing imperial cities  don't forget to visit the place where they actually make leather. It is true that your sense of smell might suffer a bit from this experience because of the bad smell of the products they use to strenthen and color the leather. And yes they also use peogon excrement because it makes it strong and sturdy.

Over time, this tradition of leather work has continued since and you can still find entire neighborhoods with colorful tanks, where many tanners are busy as the ones in Fez and Marrakech, which offer an astonishing show to the tourists.

Nowadays, the production of Moroccan leather is a good source of revenue for the country, as it tops the exports of handicrafts from carpets. If you are interested in how they make leather the old fashion way: Read about Morocco leather in The Household Cyclopedia of General Information

Moroccan leather is used to  make so many things such as  babouches, belts , leather jackets, bags and suitcases , clothes, poufs,  furniture and more.

Looking for Moroccan Leather Products? Check out my Moroccan Art aStore!

The industrial leather sector comprises 350 units highly equipped that co-exist with other craft units widespread in the country. Morocco provides the international market, especially the European market, a large and diverse quantity of leather products in its various stages of processing.

Here are some 2003 numbers for leather exports just to show how huge this business is in morocco:

Exports by miillion 

Shoes 136
Leather Garments 21
Luggage and leather goods 19 
Tannery, 10 Tannery 
Total 186

Exports by Branch

• Shoes: 73%
• Clothing Leather: 11%
• Leather and Travel Goods: 10% 
• Tanning and Megisserie: 5%

Shoes

The shoe industry is the main activity of tanning and has 236 industrial units producing about 63% of the total sector value. It is characterized by a wide variety of manufactured items and ranges such as: shoes, sport shoes (golf, skiing, etc.) for men, women and children, professional shoes ...

The industrial sector operate with companies and brands known worldwide. They chose Morocco for manufacture and export their products for quality and low price. The branch of the shoe makes 73% of total exports of the sector.

Its main markets:

• France: 57%
• Germany: 14%
• Spain: 13%
• Italy: 11%
• Others: 5%

Leather clothing

This branch has 19 modern processing units that accounts for 6.5% of the sector's production value. It also employs 3% of the total of the leather sector and exports worth 21 million euros, or 11% of total exports of leather products.

Main markets:
• Spain: 68%
• France: 19%
• Italy: 5%
• U.S.A: 3%
• Others: 5%

Luggage and Leather Goods

This branch has 40 industrial units that provide 7% of the total sector value. These units are mainly medium-sized, flexible and responsive,  and are of international importance.

 This industry generates more than 10% of total exports of the Moroccan leather sector divided on key markets:

Main markets:

• France: 62%
• Switzerland: 13%
• Spain: 8%
• BLEU: 7%
• Other: 10%

Tannery

The division of "Tanneries and leather finishing" includes more than 55 modern units, mostly large sizes making nearly 23% of the sector's total output value and 5% of sales abroad. These units have undergone a diversification of their production and improved quality of hides tanned very popular on the international market.

Main markets:

• Italy: 27%
• France: 26%
• Spain: 14.5%
• Turkey: 10%
• China: 9%
• Other: 13.5%

Moroccan leather production has many strengths and opportunities. It has a skilled labor in ancestral knowledge that takes advantage of the high quality raw material available. It follows protection of the environment consistent with international standards.

It also benefits greatly from its geographic proximity to the main sales markets-Europe. In addition, it is an attractive sector for investment and relocation. The government also supports the industry with funds so as to keep the growth continue.

Looking for Moroccan Leather Products? Check out my Moroccan Leather!

 <<<Back to Moroccan Art
<<<Back to Homepage

***C2_invitation_22768914***