São Paulo – From January to August, 99 million pairs of shoes were shipped to Brazil, representing growth of 15% over the same period of last year. The export value was US$ 1 billion, representing growth of 10.4% using the same basis of comparison. The data were disclosed this Thursday (21st) by the Brazilian Association of Shoe Manufacturers (Abicalçados).
Synthetic upper shoes were the most exported. Out of the total shipped during the period, 69.4 million were synthetic. The leading buying countries of Brazilian shoes were the United States, which imported the equivalent of US$ 238.35 million, followed by the United Kingdom, with US$ 125.6 million and Argentina, with US$ 80.48 million.
There are also Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, among the 25 leading buyers of Brazilian shoes. Exports to Saudi Arabia totalled US$ 9 million from January to August, representing growth of 86.5% compared with the same period of 2009. A total of 916,000 pairs were shipped, 52.2% more than in the same period of last year. Sales to the Emirates, in turn, totalled US$ 7.96 million, representing growth of 1.7%. Volume-wise, however, shipments declined by almost 20%.
Brazilian imports during the period reached US$ 198 million, growth of 0.9% compared with the same period of last year. Brazil purchased 20.34 million pairs, a decline of 11.5%. The main suppliers were Vietnam, China and Indonesia.
In August, shoe exports have also increased. Sales totalled US$ 122.5 million, 10.4% more than in the same month of 2009. In terms of volume, there was growth of 14.4%, from 8.76 million pairs to 10.02 million.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
