São Paulo – Footwear exports from Brazil climbed 17.6% year-on-year in April to USD 93.18 million, after losing steam for three straight months. Last month saw 9.87 million pairs of shoes shipped from Brazil. Year-to-date through April, 40.36 million shoe pairs got shipped, with revenue reaching 344.2 million, up 1.8% year-on-year.
“April exports are a result of sales deals closed during the first trade shows of the year, in Italy, the United States and Colombia. At those events alone, deals worth over USD 63 million were decided on for 2018,” a press release quoted Brazilian Footwear Industry Association (Abicalçados) CEO Heitor Klein as saying.
Foreign sales are expected to increase slightly in 2018 from 127 million pairs shipped to 150-plus countries in 2017. “But it will all depend on how dollar-to-real rates behave. The big problem and the big question mark is the lack of exchange rate stability,” said Klein.
Year-to-date through April, Argentina was the leading destination for Brazilian footwear, with sales amounting to USD 58.36 million, up 19.9% year-on-year. The United States placed second at USD 51 million, down 20.8%, and France was third at USD 21 million, up 21.5%.
The United Arab Emirates, the only Arab country in the top-20 buyers list, ranked 17th at USD 4.22 million worth of footwear products purchased, down 12.9% year-on-year.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
