Last December Brazil’s footwear export slowed down, decreasing by 3,8 per cent in terms of volumes and dropping by 8,7 per cent in terms of incomes. Nevertheless, the financial statement for 2017 is still broadly positive: in fact, Brazil sold abroad over 127,000 pairs of shoes, thus reaching 1,09 billion dollars in revenues: in other words, sales volumes increased by 1,2 per cent and incomes went up by 9,3 per cent, both on annual basis. Abicalçados, the footwear national association, rejoices in this amazing accomplishment: that’s been the best business performance since 2013, when revenues coming from export amounted to 1,095 billion dollars. President Heitor Klein, for whom Brazilian footwear manufacturers have achieved something “impressively grand”, points out, in a press release, that results could have been even better if they had not been affected by currency instability: “At the beginning of the year our average price was 7 dollars, at the end it was 9 dollars”. Not to mention another relevant issue, that is, Brazil’s competitiveness (“our competitors are stronger when it comes to logistics, manufacturing costs and tax system”). Yet price keeps being the key point, as the USA, the top buyer of shoes made in Brazil, are “sensitive” to the topic and rapidly respond to changes: in 2017 US purchase orders decreased by 14 per cent on average.
Brazilian footwear manufacturers rejoice in their “heroic accomplishment”, as 2017 export revenues increased by 9,3 per cent
