São Paulo – The lingerie production hub in the city of Juruaia is trying to become a supplier to the Arab world. Local factories are negotiating with a distributor from the United Arab Emirates, according to the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae) analyst for the micro region of São Sebastião do Paraíso, Elcília Paulinelli de Oliveira. Since 2007, the Sebrae has been developing a project for the training of companies in the hub. The program includes from management to exports.
Elcília explained that a distributor from the United Arab Emirates learnt about the products made by the hub at Moda City, a fair in Paris, France, last year, and was interested in buying products made by two companies. The distributor, however, asked for exclusiveness and the business is being discussed. According to the analyst, the hub is made up of 147 companies, but of this total, only around 20 already export. "Exports represent no more than 5% of company production," said Elcília.
Among the countries that already buy the lingerie produced in Juruaia are Japan, China, the United States, Germany, England, Denmark and Portugal, as well as countries in South America, like Bolivia, Argentina and Uruguay. According to Elcília, the hub makes lingerie of all kinds, from those turned to the upper classes to products for lower-income consumers. Juruaia has from micro to medium producers of lingerie.
According to the Sebrae analyst, exports by companies in the hub, however, are sporadic. Making them constant is one of the objectives of the Sebrae training project. "We plan to elect three or four countries in which we believe we may be successful in sales and to take the companies there," said Elcília. The analyst stated that the objective is to choose markets like Brazil, where there is no need for adaptation of the products.
A Sebrae research with 40 companies in the hub showed that together they had revenues of 534,700 Brazilian reals (US$ 296,800) last year. There was growth of 67% over 2006. Industries researched said they each have 458 clients. This figure represents growth of 99.2% over 2006, when each had 230 clients. The city promoted, early this month, the Fest Lingerie sector fair.
*Translated by Mark Ament
