São Paulo – Brazilian exports of footwear increased 14.7% from January to July, according to data made public this Monday (7) by the Brazilian Footwear Industry Association (Abicalçados). In the year’s first seven months, manufacturers’ revenues totaled USD 608 million.
Volume showed a weaker growth: 1.3%, totaling 67.4 million shoe pairs exported. According to the association, the difference is due to the increase of near 12% of the average price of the Brazilian product in the global market.
In July, revenues with footwear exports increased 0.9% over the same month of last year, reaching USD 79.4 million, while volume declined 6.8% to 8.045 million pairs.
In a statement, Abicalçados’ CEO, Heitor Klein, complained about the appreciation of the real against the dollar, which has been undermining the competitivity of Brazilian footwear abroad. He believes that the average price of Brazilian footwear jumped near USD 2 between 2016 and 2017.
“We are dealing with the appreciation of the local currency, which is the symptom of a healthier economy. The trouble is that, since we still have high production costs, we end up losing competitivity against our international competitors,” he said.
The United States, the main client of Brazilian footwear in the first seven months of the year, ordered less products in the period if compared to January to July of 2016. Shipments declined 11% in volume, totaling 6.2 million pairs, and 7.7% in revenues with USD 111.6 million.
To Argentina, the second largest destination for the Brazilian product, received 5.2 million pairs, an increase of 16.7%, with revenues reaching USD 75.7 million, an increase of 47.6% over January to July of last year. Paraguay surpassed France and Bolivia and ranked third in the destinations ranking, with 8 million pairs ordered for USD 46.8 million – a decline of 7.2% in volume, but with revenues jumping 96.4%.
Among the Arabs, the United Arab Emirates was the highlight, coming in at the fifteenth position in the destinations’ ranking for Brazilian footwear. In all, 856,200 pair were shipped, generating USD 7.8 million in revenues, down 27.1% and 27.7%, respectively, in comparison to 2016’s first seven months.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
