FOOTWEAR FACES 2020 WITH “MODERATE OPTIMISM” AFTER EXPORTS FALL

Industry was one of the most penalized in 2019, with exports falling 5.66% to 1791 million euros. It lost more than 100 million when compared to the previous years.

The Portuguese footwear industry closed 2019 with a 5.66% drop in exports, which stood at 1,791 million euros. In just one year, the sector lost 107 million euros, in absolute value, and fell to 2013 levels, when it sold 1,735 million abroad. APICCAPS, the footwear association, speaks of a "particularly demanding" year, with a "very adverse" behavior of the main European economies, which constitute the privileged destination markets for shoes made in Portugal. But it also talks about a successful diversification strategy for non-European markets and a "moderate optimism" of the businessmen for 2020.

Despite the drop in sales in 2019, the communication director of APICCAPS highlights the achievement of the last decade, in which exports registered an accumulated growth of 45.37%, corresponding to more 559 million euros. Paulo Gonçalves also reminds that the sector had ended the first half of 2019 with a drop of 9%, having managed to "recover something” in the second half. In the total of the line, which closes down 5.4%, the highlight is the good global performance of the leather goods segment, the leather goods, which comprises products such as wallets, bags or belts, and which grew 29% to 197 million euros.

The market diversification strategy has been successful. In 2009, non-European countries represented only 7% of total footwear exports, a figure that rose to 15% in 2019. The numbers of the National Statistics Institute (INE) shows that, in this period, exports outside the European Union more than tripled and are worth already almost 265 million euros. "It is this path that we started ten years ago that has to be deepened in the coming years, strengthening the capacity of Portuguese footwear to penetrate markets such as China or the United States," says Paulo Gonçalves. The United States, for example, is one of the countries where footwear companies have been betting the most in recent years and the fruits are emerging. In 2019, sales to Uncle Sam's land grew 22.4% to 86 million euros.

Regarding the "moderate optimism" for 2020, this responsible says that it is based on the APICCAPS Quarterly Economic Report, which concludes that the predictions for the state of business are the "most favorable" of the last two years. "Almost two-thirds of companies (62%) predict that the state of business will be sufficient and those who believe it will be good exceed by 8 percentage points those who fear it will be bad", it can be read in the report. Despite the macroeconomic forecasts for the main Portuguese footwear destination markets point to 2020 as a "weak year of growth", the expectations of companies for the next quarter point to "some increase in orders from abroad".

Positives also seem to be the signals coming in from the outside. In the online survey conducted by the association in December for World Footwear, the annual publication of APICCAPS that makes a complete radiograph of the sector worldwide, the respondents were "optimistic about the footwear business and expect quantities and prices increase in the next six months”. The survey obtained 183 valid responses from more than 30 countries. 48% of responses came from Europe, 21% from Asia and 20% from North America.