January footwear exports highest since April 2020

Although down in comparison with January 2020, shoe exports in the first month of 2021 indicate the greatest increase in the index since April last year. In 2020, 9.73 million pairs were shipped, which generated US$ 60.93 million, an increase of 5% in pairs and 2.1% in values ​​compared to December 2020, but with a drop of 22.2 % in volume and 33.2% in value ​​compared to the same month last year.

The executive president of ABICALÇADOS (the Brazilian footwear industries association), Haroldo Ferreira, points out that the drop compared to January of last year is explained by the fact that in that month of 2020, exports did not yet register the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. “The basis for comparison is very high for the standards we have assumed since the advance of the pandemic, which began in March. So, it is likely that in the next two months we will still register values ​​lower than those of 2020”, projects the leader. On the other hand, the executive maintains the expectation of growth from the first quarter, ending the year 2021 with a performance 14.9% better than last year. “There is a recovery in progress”, he stated.

Destinations
The main destination in the first month of the year was the United States, where 950,000 pairs were shipped for US$ 13.36 million, a decrease of 18.8% in volume and a decrease of 30.8% in revenue compared to the same month of 2020. The second destination was France, to which 508,000 pairs were exported for US$ 4.82 million, down 35.5% and 27.8%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. The third busiest destination of the month was Argentina, with a record of 516,770 pairs and valued at US$ 3.8 million, an increase of 15.8% in volume and a 20.6% decrease in revenue compared to the first month of 2020.

See below the main Brazilian footwear destinations in 2020:

Import volume highest since April

As well as exports, January imports reached the highest level since last April, even though they dropped both in volume (-28,%) and in revenue (-47%) in comparison with January 2020. When compared with  December 2020, the increase was 43.8%. In the period, 1.98 million pairs were shipped, for which US$ 21.8 million was paid. “There is a tendency to increase footwear imports, especially Asian, as the Brazilian domestic market recovers”, informs Ferreira.

In parts of footwear – uppers, soles, heels, insoles, etc. – imports for the first month totaled US$ 2 million, down 11% over the same period in 2020. The main origins were Paraguay, China, and Vietnam.

See the graph below for Brazilian footwear imports and exports since 2017:

Brazilian Footwear Imports and Exports | Jan 2017 – Dec 2020 | TEU

Text Source: DataLiner (to request a DataLiner demo, click here)

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