Judging from data from CICB, the Brazilian tanning association, and Abicalçados, the one representing the footwear industry, 2024 is not going so badly for the green-gold supply chain. Leather (raw, semi-finished and finished) benefits from exports. While shoe production volumes grow by virtue of the recovery in domestic demand.
2024 is not so bad
In November, CICB wrote, based on data from the SECEX Institute, that Brazilian leather exports grew +21.6% year-on-year in value. The result brings the balance of the first 11 months of 2024 to close at +14.2%, compared to the same period in 2023. This is a booming result (given the timing) but one that should be read in context: it’s the rebound of a very negative comparison base, as reflected in the fact that 2024’s growth compared to 2022 amounts to +2.7 percent. Looking at the main outlet markets, China (without Hong Kong) made purchases up 29.6% in value and 38.7% in volume, while the US is in the negative area with -6.5% and -4% in value and volume, respectively. Orders from Italy grew, accumulating an almost symmetrical +9.2 in value and +9.1% in volume between January and November.
Footwear momentum
The Brazilian footwear industry, meanwhile, in the first 10 months of 2024, shows production volumes up 5.1% compared to the same period in 2023. Due, Abicalçados acknowledges, to domestic demand, which not only buys domestic products but also drives growth in footwear imports (the cumulative figure is +10%). Abicalçados’ projection claims the year will close at +3% production, or 890 million pairs made. Then in 2025, the industry organization is counting on posting another +2%, which would lead the country to improve on 2019’s results and finally close the books on the effects of the pandemic.
Read also:
- Italian tanning: 2024 is black, 2025 a question mark
- France: leather sector holds in 2024, but fears 2025
