São Paulo – Footwear exports from Brazil to eight Arab countries went up year-on-year through April. Sales volume to Kuwait, the third biggest Arab importer, was up 25.6% to 355,000 pairs of shoes, with export value going up 13.4% to USD 2.31 million. The numbers are from the Brazilian Footwear Industry Association (Abicalçados).
Export revenue was up 135.7% for Libya, 38% for Morocco, 69% for Bahrain, 26.4% for Oman, 346.9% for Sudan, 245.7% for Jordan and 147.2% for Tunisia.
Total exports to Arab countries, on the other hand, slid 11.8% to USD 17.42 million year-over-year. Shipped volume was down 11.3% to 2.9 million pairs of shoes.
Sales to the biggest Arab importers slowed – by 67% to the UAE, with revenue going down 59.2%. The country went from first to second leading importer, trailing Saudi Arabia, whose imports were down 24.7% in volume and 0.7% in value.
Brazilian Footwear
Footwear manufacturers affiliated with the Brazilian Footwear export promotion program, from Abicalçados and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil), saw numbers go up in sales to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, KuwaitMorocco, Bahrain, Sudan, Tunisia, Libya and Oman.
But Brazilian Footwear-affiliated companies’ sales to the UAE also cooled off, and the country is no longer the top buyer – which it was by far in 2019. Export value was down 55.5% to USD 2.46 million.
Abicalçados Commercial Promotion coordinator Letícia Sperb Masselli explained that the program’s strategy is being redesigned for a few months now. “Up until shortly before the pandemic, we considered the UAE our [main] market, and we had plans to bring UAE executives to Brazil. Now we’re looking into other possibilities and partnerships with fashion industry associations, and possibly doing direct retail work,” said Masselli.
But she pointed out that the UAE still plays a key role in the shipping of product from Brazil to the Middle East, as a reexport hub into Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
