Not all good news for Asian footwear exports
Yesterday’s news that Vietnam’s leather footwear exports have risen yet again (see www.footwearbiz.com February 11, 2008) will have surprised few as they merely reflect a now long-established trend towards increased production in emerging markets, while footwear manufacturing continues to dwindle in traditional centres such as the USA and Europe. But, while there are no signs of this trend changing in the near future, Taiwan’s latest export figures delivered one or two surprises.
Although the country’s overall exports grew a significant 11.9% pct year-on-year in January to reach $22.14 billion, certain sectors failed to match this performance, including the footwear industry, which actually saw exports fall a massive 14.4% year-on-year, while textiles also saw exports fall by 5.3%. However, far from signalling a fall in expansion in the Asian country, the decline is more likely the result of lower exports to the USA due to rising concerns, especially in the lower-priced goods sectors, caused by the current economic uncertainty and the subprime crisis.
On a more positive note, chemical exports increased 33% while plastic and rubber products improved 13.3%.
