Brazil: Brazilian footwear manufacturers focus on China to reverse fall in sales
[ 2007-12-19
]
Sao Paulo, Brazil, 19 Dec – The Brazilian footwear sector hopes to reverse its falling sales and production trend in by increasing exports to Asia, a sector specialist told Macauhub Tuesday in Sao Paulo.
The market consultant of the Brazilian Association of Footwear Industries (Abicalçados), Enio Klein, said that in order to make up for the losses the sector planned to increase its activities in countries such as China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and also in the island of Taiwan.
In April the association is due to take part in a fair for the segment in Hong Kong by taking a group of 15 Brazilian companies.
“We want to encourage sales to the Asian continent and better explore that market niche," said the organization official.
According to Abicalçados the sector sells to over 100 countries, with 86 percent of volume sent to the United States, Argentina, the United Kingdom, Paraguay, Mexico, Venezuela, Spain, Italy and Canada.
According to the consultant, the “double effect of globalization,” caused by the fall in the value of the dollar against the real, is responsible for the situation. “We have lost market share in the United States to products from China and imports of Chinese footwear to Brazil have increased,” he explained.
The association estimates that exports in 2007 should reach US$2.056 billion, or an 11 percent rise on 2006.
“The average price helped to prevent a bigger fall,” said the Abicalçados consultant. Between January and October, the value rose 4.2 percent to US$10.80 a pair, and made up for the 1.6 percent fall in volume, to 149.1 million pairs. (macauhub)
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