Vietnam left to look elsewhere
21/07/2009
Vietnam’s footwear export turnover fell by nearly 9% in the first half of 2009 compared to a year ago with revenues reaching just over $2 billion. In 2008, export turnover for the footwear sector was $4.5 billion for the full year.
The country’s Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso) has admitted that shipments to traditionally important and lucrative markets such as the US, the European Union and Southeast Asia have declined, while the average price of exported footwear has fallen by between 10% and 12%.
Lefaso also conceded that importers were turning to alternative manufacturing origins for leather footwear and it highlighted India and, more surprisingly perhaps, Tunisia as countries that had benefited from Vietnam’s loss; both have managed to increase their footwear exports in spite of the downturn in the global economy, the industry body claimed.
For its part, Vietnam is also seeking new export markets with Malaysia and the Middle East the most promising, but Lefaso has made it clear that demand there is nothing like as strong as in the big developed economies that have imported high volumes of leather shoes from Vietnam in recent years.
There appears to be little respite on the horizon for Vietnamese tanners and manufacturers as the organisation has seen forecasts from commentators it regards as experts that show demand for Vietnamese footwear continuing to fall in the second half of this year.
“The largest of our manufacturers will continue to receive orders,” insisted Nguyen Thi Tong, secretary of Lefaso. But this statement augurs badly for smaller manufacturers, some of whom have already begun to reduce their workforces.
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