Looking at export data for the first 10 months of the year, we can say that the Guanajuato footwear segment has put the virus behind. The state that hosts the largest footwear manufacturing district of the country increased its export volume by a whopping 56.7%, compared to 2020, and +28.4% compared to 2019. In value, foreign revenue reached 495 million USD, up 22.3% on the last pre-pandemic year. Not all problems have been solved. The overall value of the country’s footwear export is still down, and 8.000 jobs have been lost due to Covid-related reasons.
Is the virus behind? Only partially
The management team of the country’s reference association (CICEG) explain to the local press that a transformation is currently occurring. Guanajuato’s footwear is (successfully) shifting from the local market to foreign ones. Specifically, Mexico looks towards the United States, which alone absorbed 85% of the former’s exports (buying 19.7 million pairs, up 27.25% on 2019). Mexican footwear exports, after all, are regional: along with the USA, the other reference countries include El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama.
What’s missing
CICEG also shares that occupation levels are recovering, but that compared to 2020, 8.000 jobs have been lost. The pandemic, along with the weak internal demand which suffers the importing of Asian goods, has caused the ground to shake in Guanajuato. Production volumes, in fact, are still 16.7% lower than they were in 2019, with synthetic shoes almost evening their past performance. The production value of textile and leather shoes is still behind, -17,3% and -22,7% respectively.
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