Il Italian footwear sector resists, despite reporting many difficulties, and closes the first half of the year with a turnover still growing 14,5% after +18,7% in the final 2021.
The data emerge from the latest report of Study Center of Confindustria Fashion for shoe factories which also highlights double-digit value recoveries both on the front of export than in the purchases of Italian families.
The occasion is the opening of the 94th edition of Micam, the exhibition dedicated to Italian footwear and promoted by the trade association, which sees a parterre of 1.012 brands, of which 54% Italian and 46% foreign, up by 23% compared to the March 2022 appointment. footwear days, from 18 to 20 September, are part of the schedule of Milanese fashion industry events at Rho Fieramilano.
Concerns for the coming months from high energy and raw material costs
“The sector as a whole denotes a significant recovery, but dear energy, costs of raw material he consequences of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict put the evolution at risk in the short term,” he says Giovanna Ceolini, the new President of Assocalzaturifici who recalls how there was a drop of -30% in the value of exports in the two markets involved in the war, with -46% since the beginning of the war.
Ceolini, number one of Parabiago Collezioni, a company that produces footwear under the Thierry Rabotin brand, was recently appointed acting president of Assocalzaturifici, after his resignation at the end of July Siro Badon.
Luckily there are other markets that are growing instead, Ceolini continues: “nearby France and Germany recorded 23% of the value, America, thanks to the favorable exchange rate, reached +65%” “Japan and China remained +15%, due to the lockdowns in April and May which did not allow it to advance further, then there is Kazakhstan which grew by 53% and the United Kingdom has restarted, after the post-Brexit setback. In general, if the brands record brilliant performances, half of the companies are still below pre-Covid turnover levels.”
Exports grew by 24% in value and 15% in quantity
In detail, in the first 5 months of 2022 le exports grew by 24% in value and 15% in quantity, compared to the same period of 2021. A performance that made it possible to exceed pre-emergency levels also in terms of volume (+2,4%), although it is as significant as the sector of footwear with leather uppers, which has always been typical of Made in Italy productions, is still far below the pairs of three years ago (-10,5% on January-May 2019).
Il sectoral trade balance shows assets of 2,18 billion euros (+14,5% on January-May 2021). On the domestic market, the approach to the levels of three years ago continued: +18,2% in value for household purchases in the first 6 months and +14% in quantity.
All product items show a positive sign on January-June 2021, with classic footwear for men and women in the front row (+20 pct).
