São Paulo – Brazilian footwear exports to the UAE more than doubled in shipped volume during the first quarter of the year. Sales amounted to 774,500 pairs, up 126.6% from Q1 2018. Export revenue climbed 71.2% to USD 5.24 million. The UAE placed 13th on the list of leading buyers of shoes from Brazil and were the only Arab country in the top 20 during Q1 2019. The figures are from the Brazilian Footwear Industries Association (Abicalçados).
Overall, 35 million pairs of shoes were shipped from Brazil in Q1, grossing USD 267.1 million, up 14.9% and 6.4% year-on-year. The leading importers of footwear from Brazil were the United States, Argentina and France.
In March alone, however, total footwear exports from Brazil slid in volume and revenue, according to Abicalçados. Shipped volume was down 7.5% to 9 million pairs, with revenue dropping by 9.4% to USD 83.9 million,
Abicalçados reported that March numbers were impacted by weaker sales to Argentina. March saw exports to Argentina slide by 50% in revenue and 34.9% in volume over March 2018, to 880,000 pairs and USD 10.96 million.
“Shrinking domestic consumption, coupled with measures designed by the IMF to trim down imports, is causing exports (from Brazil to Argentina) to decline since the second half of last year,” a press release quoted Abicalçados CEO Heitor Klein as saying. Constant exchange rate fluctuations, which pose problems when it comes to price formation, also weighed down on the month’s numbers.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
