International slowdown affects Brazilian footwear exports, leading to record drop

Between January and August of this year, Brazilian footwear sector exports totaled 82.28 million pairs, generating $823.15 million. The amount represents a 15.7% decrease in volume and a 6.6% decrease in revenue compared to last year.

In August, exports also saw a decline, with 9.34 million pairs and $95.6 million, a decrease of 12.8% and 18.6%, respectively, compared to the same month in 2022.

Nevertheless, looking at the pre-pandemic period, between January and August 2019, the sector still shows positive figures, with a 9.2% increase in volume and a 26.7% increase in revenue.

These figures were released by the Brazilian Association of Footwear Industries (Abicalçados) on Monday (11). According to the executive president of the entity, Haroldo Ferreira, the slowdown in the international economy, coupled with high-interest rates and a decline in demand in important countries for Brazilian footwear, such as the United States, has a direct impact on these indices.

“We expect some improvement in the last months of the year, but even so, we should close 2023 with indices between 6.7% and 9.1% lower than those recorded in 2022 (in pairs),” projects the leader, emphasizing that, despite the result, the figures will remain above those recorded in the pre-pandemic period in 2019.

The chart below displays Brazil’s footwear exports (hs codes 6400-6406), measured in TEUs, recorded between January 2019 and July 2023. The data is from DataLiner.

Brazilian footwear exports | Jan 2019 – Jul 2023 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Destinations

Despite the measure taken by the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA), which changed the conditions for access to the Unified Foreign Exchange Market for import payments, causing delays of up to six months in payments, the neighboring country continues to be the main destination for Brazilian footwear abroad.

Between January and August, 10.76 million pairs were shipped to Argentina for $168 million, a decrease of 8.1% in volume and an increase of 32% in revenue compared to last year.

The United States, the second destination for Brazilian footwear abroad, has also been affected by declining demand and historically low interest rates, impacting exports to the country. Between January and August, 7.34 million pairs were shipped to the United States for $161 million, a decrease of 48.8% in volume and 34.6% in revenue compared to last year.

The third destination for the first eight months of the year was France. Between January and August, 2.1 million pairs were shipped there for $39.1 million, a decrease of 58.7% in volume and 10.5% in revenue compared to the same period in 2022.

Source: Jornal NH

To read the original news report, see: https://www.jornalnh.com.br/noticias/regiao/2023/09/11/desaquecimento-da-economia-internacional-afeta-exportacoes-do-calcado-brasileiro-que-registra-nova-queda-em-2023.html

Sharing is caring!