Trade

Brazilian footwear exports get off on the right foot

Mar 31, 2022 Brazil

According to Abicalçados, footwear exports had the best performance in the first two months of this year since 2011. International conjecture is showing to be favourable for the industry

The data compiled by the Brazilian Footwear Industries Association (Abicalçados) indicates that in the first two months of the year, it were shipped 25.57 million pairs of shoes, worth 209.23 million US dollars. These results reflect an increase in both volume (up by 40%) and value (up by 70.8%), as compared to the same period of 2021.

The Executive President of Abicalçados, Haroldo Ferreira, expressed his optimism for 2022, signalling that “international demand is heated and there is a tendency, particularly of the North American market, to change their footwear imports market from China to Brazil as a result of the trade war between the two giants and higher freight costs in Asia”.

In February alone, it were sent abroad 13.58 million pairs of shoes, generating 108 million US dollars. These figures suggest an increase of 36.2% in volume and 75.5% in value, as compared to the same month of last year.

Main Destinations

The US were the main destination for Brazilian footwear in the first two months of 2022; according to Mr Ferreira, almost one-third of the revenue from footwear exports came from this country. The North-American country purchased 4 million pairs of shoes, at the value of 60.58 million US dollars, which reflects an increase of 97.8% in volume and 130.2% in revenue, as compared to the same period of 2021.

Next, came Argentina, as it imported 1.66 million pairs of shoes, worth 18.1 million US dollars, up by 39.2% in volume and by 78.2% in value, on a comparable basis to January-February 2021.

France was the third destination market for Brazilian footwear. In the two months, it were shipped 2.28 million pairs of shoes (up by 67.6%), which amounted to 14.14 million US dollars of revenue (up by 28.5%), as compared to the similar period of last year.

Brazilian Footwear Industry

Brazil has one of the largest footwear industries in the world, predominantly focused on the domestic market. However, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted a 2020 especially difficult for the sector: Abicalçados noted that national production of footwear dropped to levels of 16 years ago, and official statistics show that exports reached their lowest figure of the decade. Still, the World Footwear 2021 Yearbook (more information available HERE) shows that Brazil still ranked fifth both among the top 10 footwear producers and the top 10 footwear consumers.

Image Credits: Agustin Diaz Gargiulo on Unsplash

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