Several international European companies completed contracts with their counterparts in Saudi Arabia to export about 10 million sacrificial goatskins after they are tanned, according to the leather and tanning chamber in Jeddah. More than 40 percent of the skins cannot be tanned, the chamber claims. “The slaughterhouse provides us with more than 1.2 goatskins during Eid al-Adha, which are imported by special ships and stored in special containers so as not to be compromised by the high humidity on the ships,” said Khalid al-Doukhl, a member of the tanning and leather industry chamber. “The skin prices range from 10 to 20 Saudi Riyals (U.S. $2.67 to U.S. $5.33),” al-Doukhl said. “There are some obstacles facing investment in the leather industry, like small investors selling skins at high prices without justification,” he added. “Tanned skins can be used in the hat, handbag, coat and glove industries.” There is roughly two billion Saudi Riyals invested in the leather industry.
