The best of times for Colombia’s footwear producers
Columbian leather industry association Acicam has reported that production of leather and finished products in the South American country increased by 7.2% in the first eight months of 2014 compared to the same period the year before.
Over the same period of time, sales of leather, footwear and leathergoods increased by 5.1% year on year.
“It’s been many years since we had such a good environment for growth in the leather, footwear and leathergoods industry,” said Acicam president, Luis Gustavo Flórez, in comments to local media.
Mr Flórez said many footwear producers in the Santander department, traditionally the country’s most important shoe-producing region, are working at full capacity to meet large increases in orders as retailers prepare for Christmas and New Year. He said government measures to control footwear imports were making a big difference to local producers. “This has gone a long way towards correcting the distortion that was ocurring in the market,” he added.
