ANCI predicts difficult months ahead
10/01/2013
ANCI president said in a statement at the start of 2013 that “stagnant” consumption at home and in other European markets means Italy’s footwear brands need to prepare for difficult months ahead.
A new survey of ANCI members show that shoe consumption in the domestic market declined sharply in the first nine months of 2012, accompanied by a slow-down in export sales, especially in other EU countries. Export sales, which have supported positive results for Italian footwear brands for some time, are still growing (by 3.9% in value for the first eight months of last year compared to the same period in 2011, the most up-to-date figures available) but have “lost momentum”, according to the association. In spite of the increase in the value of exports, volumes over the same period fell by 7.7%.
In total, between January and August 2012, Italian companies exported 152.5 million pairs of shoes, 12.6 million fewer pairs than for the same period in 2011. Price increases, however, meant these exports brought in a record first-eight-month value of just short of EUR 5.4 billion.
“The overseas market is still positive and rewarding for Italian companies that have managed to reinvent themselves,” said Mr Sagripanti, “but the most worrying aspect is how deep and how widespread the crisis is.” The situation is slowing down employment in the sector, the survey shows, and production, which had returned to growth, has begun to go down again. He explained that 61% of respondents to the survey said they had experienced a decrease in production and in almost half of these cases the decline was of more than 5%.
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