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Footwear: the next China is China

14/01/2014
Footwear industry consultant Peter Mangione has said that, even after ten years of sourcing experts searching for a shoe manufacturing location that can compete with China, no real alternative has emerged.

In recent comments quoted by the China Leather Industry Association, Mr Mangione said: “The short answer is that the next China is China.”

Nevertheless, he said the “scramble to find suitable alternative sourcing options” has produced a good pool of substitutes in some important niches, with costs, worker availability and investment in shoe making infrastructure still the biggest issues.

But he insisted that no alternative country, nor even any combination of countries, will be able to complete the infrastructure investment that would be required to supplant China in the foreseeable future.

He estimated China’s shoe production now to be around 13.5 billion pairs per year, with nearly 10.1 billion pairs exported.


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