São Paulo – At a time in which the Brazilian footwear industry is faced with strong Chinese competition, manufacturing and selling shoes and flip flops for the Arab world becomes a great opportunity. The manufacturers are concerned about growing imports of Asian products, but claim, at the 43rd edition of Francal, a fair for the industry taking place in São Paulo this week, that they are investing in the domestic market and preparing to enter other markets, or to increase their market share where they already operate.
Company Via Marte, for instance, should break into the Middle Eastern market. The company makes 7.5 million shoes per year and exports 8% of its output. The leading buyers are the Latin American countries. Despite the strong domestic market, the company’s export manager, Camilo Gehrke, claims that he will place the Brazilian shoes on the Arab world soon. “Selling to the Arab countries is important because they have money to buy and are barely affected by economic crises. Furthermore, they already have a culture of seeking Brazilian shoes,” he says.
Gehrke claims that Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon are the countries with the most potential for national products, but claims that precarious Brazilian infrastructure, high taxes and the time the shoes take to arrive at the importing country are all challenges that must be conquered. This, however, does not prevent the company from exporting to the Arab world. “We will consolidate our position in Latin America, where we already operate, and then we will enter the Middle East,” he says.
While Via Marte is getting set to enter the nmk, Piccadilly is reaping the rewards of investing in the region for 15 years now. On June 24th, the enterprise inaugurated its 8th store in Kuwait. Aside from this unit, Piccadilly sells shoes to Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. “We sell our products under our own brand, which is now established in the region,” says the export director at the company, Micheline Twigger. She notes, for instance, that out of 17,000 Brazilian shoes sold to Bahrain in 2010, 85% were Piccadilly’s. “In other countries, we have retained shares ranging from 30% to 40%,” she says.
Micheline does not disclose the company’s total sales to the region. However, out of 8 million pairs made each year, 30% are exported to 90 different countries. Of these, 10% are shipped to the Middle East. “Our exports to the region grow year after year,” she claims.
According to figures supplied by the Brazilian Footwear Industries Association (Abicalçados), the leading buyer of Brazilian shoes is the United States. In 2010, the country purchased US$ 340.9 million in shoes, sandals and flip flops, among other items. Saudi Arabia is the leading Arab buyers of Brazilian footwear. The country imported US$ 13.4 million in products in 2010, a 75% increase over 2009. The Emirates purchased the equivalent of US$ 12.6 million last year, 6.5% less than in the year before last.
Local market
Aside from the opportunities to export to the Arab world, domestic demand is going strong too. According to the executive director at Abicalçados, Heitor Klein, the domestic market is growing by 10% a year, on average. But it could grow much further, were the competition with China less fierce. The industry could also export more if the exchange rate was more favourable.
One of the main complaints of manufacturers is that China exports more shoes to Brazil than those subject to antidumping duties. These products are priced lower than national ones, which affects the sector’s productivity. According to Abicalçados, production in the first four months this year has already been affected due to this competition.
According to Abicalçados, the Brazilian government is investigating the practice. The country may block the entry of shoes from Indonesia, Malaysia and Hong Kong that are in fact Chinese. China has an export limit, therefore its places its products in Brazil repatriated via other countries. “If that continues and the dollar [I.e. the exchange rate] remains as it is [unfavourable to exports], we will have a decline in production and employee dismissals. For some companies, all that will be left is to manufacture overseas. Some are already doing it,” says Klein.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
