Geovana Pagel*
geovana.pagel@anba.com.br
São Paulo – The Arab countries are among the first target markets for Brazilian producers of cleaning products. The Brazilian Association of Industries of Cleaning Products and Similar Items (Abipla) and the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex) announced yesterday (27), in São Paulo, the release of an Integrated Sector Project. The initiative is to increase exports and expand the number of markets to which products made in Brazil are exported, especially those made by small and medium companies. The target is for company exports to rise from US$ 500,000 to US$ 2.9 million up to 2009.
The project actions will begin in the month of October, during participation in the Supermercados 2007 fair, in Santiago, Chile, and at the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Expo and Conference, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. "One of the most important points is that the Emirates are great importers of sector products, as they do not produce many," stated Apex president Alessandro Teixeira.
According to him, both the Arab countries and the Latin American nations have been presenting growth of income and "where there is growth of income, there is also growth of consumption," he explains. Another positive point mentioned by the Apex president was the fact that it is not necessary to adapt the products to the Arab market. "Brazilian products are already ready for the Arab countries. It is always good first to enter markets that have more acceptance," he explained.
And Brazilian products are, in fact, very well accepted on the Arab market. From 2001 to date, the Arab countries have been one of the markets for Brazilian exports that have posted the greatest growth. From January to August 2007, Brazil exported US$ 4.607 billion to the Arab nations, an increase of 16.4% over the same period last year. To have an idea of the explosion of Brazilian exports to the region all you have to do is recall that from January to August 2001 they totalled just US$ 1.342 billion. Representing growth of 243% in seven years.
The partnership between the Abipla and Apex to provide incentives to cleaning industry exports forecasts investment of 2 million Brazilian reais (US$ 1.1 million) over the next two years. The resources will be applied in actions like participation in foreign fairs, training courses and seminars, Buyer Projects, with roundtables, Image Projects, together with opinion makers, and market research.
"This year, research for knowledge, training and promotion will be turned to the nations of Africa and the Middle East and to the Andean countries like Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Colombia," stated Abipla president Luiz Carlos Dutra. In 2008, it will be the turn of Central America, with Panama, Costa Rica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic and the countries of North Africa, like Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria.
According to Dutra, the project intends to answer to local uses and customs, based on great knowledge of the market sector. "Each year we have been showing the necessary capacity, innovation and dynamism to face new challenges," he guarantees. In 2006, sector exports presented growth of 10% over 2005, reaching US$ 165 million, less than imports, which reached US$ 272.4 million, with growth of 12%, reflecting the potential this market has for international promotion.
According to figures supplied by the Brazilian Foreign Trade Secretariat (Secex) for 2006, the main products exported by the cleaning product industry are soaps in bars and pieces (US$ 41.5 million), followed by products for cleaning clothes (US$ 32 million) and environments (US$ 18 million). The main destinations for these products were the countries of Latin America.
Expanding market
The global cleaning product market, which has a turnover of US$ 97 billion worldwide, should grow 9.2% up to 2010, with an annual average of 1.8%. The figures are included in a study by Euromonitor International, an international market research organisation.
According to the study, Brazil is also benefiting from a series of these global tendencies. Among the reasons for global growth, the main ones are expansion of consumer income, greater concerns with health and well being, the reduced time for house cleaning and demographic factors, like the number of people living alone.
These tendencies are part of the saturated North American and Western European markets, which are responsible for 56% of global sales. However, they are also true to new regions that have started arising on the global scenery, like Latin America and Eastern Europe, which posted the greatest growth, respectively 17% and 14%.
In the case of Brazil, the main booster of growth is consumer knowledge. According to the president of the Abipla, expansion took place both in the case of low-income consumers, who choose basic products, designed specifically for this market sector, and in classes with greater buying power, who seek greater value-added products.
About Abipla
Abipla was established in 1976 to provide consultancy to sector companies in promotion and integration between industry and governmental organisations responsible for price policies, sanitary vigilance and the environment. In 1990, the sector started counting on a National Union of Cleaning Product Industries (Sipla) to operate in labour negotiations. Today, the Abipla counts on 60 associates, representing a sector with annual revenues of 10 billion reais (US$ 5.4 billion) and generating 17,000 jobs.
Contact
www.abipla.org.br
*Translated by Mark Ament
