Worried industry leaders in Le Marche
07/01/2009
Leather sector industry leaders in one of Italy’s most important areas of production, Le Marche, have expressed concern at statistics that confirm a fall in demand last year.
Federmoda Marche, an organisation of small artisan manufacturers focused on the fashion sector in the region, has confirmed that wholesale demand for the leather shoes and other leathergoods produced in Le Marche fell by 5.7% last year compared to 2007.
“This is a sector that is of great importance to the economy of Le Marche,” the organisation said on reporting the figures. “There are 5,282 artisan manufacturing firms here, employing a total of 15,473 people. The footwear sector has the lion's share of this, with 3,505 companies and 11,265 workers.”
There is some encouragement in that figures for footwear exports show only a slight fall, while the volume of high-end leather shoes exported from Le Marche to China has doubled to 12.6 million pairs in the first nine months of 2008.
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