Abstract: A semifinished leather product is produced from an animal hide by pretanning with the use of a chromium-free tanning agent and of a clay mineral which, after stirring for 30 minutes in water at 50° C. at a circumferential rotor speed of from 5 to 25 m/s, has a number average particle diameter of less than 2 ?m or a bimodal particle size distribution with a first, finely divided fraction whose number average particle diameter is less than 0.5 ?m and a second, coarser fraction whose number average particle diameter is less than 5 ?m, determined in each case by the method according to ISO 13320-1, by combined laser light diffraction and light scattering, a proportion of the first, finely divided fraction being from 10 to 90% by weight, and drying of the pretanned animal hide to a water content of from 5 to 45% based on the total weight of the semifinished leather product.