Footwear production grow 5.1% this year

Shoe production in Brazil will end 2013 with growth of 5.1% by volume of pairs over the past year, according to projection of the Industrial Marketing Institute (Iemi). In nominal terms, the industry's revenues will increase 8.5%, to $ 24.1 billion, in the same comparison.
In line with the slowdown of the economy, the numbers are lower than those recorded in 2012, when production in pairs grew 5.5%, and revenue, 9%. However, the scenery and the footwear industry performance can be considered better this year, says Marcelo Prado, Director of the Iemi.
According to Prado, the industry's performance last year was supported by the segment of plastic shoes and rubbers (basically slippers and sandals), which suffers little threat of imported products, produces on a large scale and in which the labor is not as intensive. "The production in the rest of the sector, which includes the shoes assembled as the leather and sports, was virtually stable or grew slightly last year," said Prado.
With the most valued dollar, exports of Brazilian shoes have become, again, a possibility. In parallel, the imported become weaker competitors, says Prado.
Second projection of consulting, exports (by volume) will grow 6.6 percent this year to 38 million pairs.
Imports, in turn, will advance 5.9%, to almost 120 million pairs this year. With this, the slice of foreign products in the apparent consumption of footwear in Brazil (national production, considered more imports, less exports) will fall 4.5% to 4.4%.
Second, although the scenario for exports has been more favorable, the great engine of growth in the production of shoes in Brazil still is the internal market.
For him, the performance of the footwear industry is more linked to income growth than GDP performance. "It is clear that inflation takes breath of the consumption potential that moves the sector. But, in practice, wages are still rising above inflation in the country, "said Prado.