The government estimates that national exports may already be worth 49% of the country’s wealth by the end of this year, while at the turn of the millennium it had not even reached 30% of the national wealth. In 2012, they were already worth 38.2% and last year they were still 41.6%. The government’s goal is that sales abroad will generate 53% of national wealth by 2030. “The Portuguese economy is not just tourism,” said the Minister of Economy and the Sea, António Costa Silva, recently in parliament. But how have the industrial sectors contributed to this growth? Different, but with constant growth. Metallurgy, textiles and apparel and footwear are just a few examples of industries expected to hit their best ever results in 2022 but are concerned about the fallout from the recession next year.
It is not without reason that the metallurgical and metalworking sector is called the champion of export. Ten years ago, Metal Portugal exported 12,704 million euros, which accounted for 30% of the industry’s total exports. Last year, the export of this industry amounted to 19,885 million euros, the highest value ever, which corresponds to 34% of the manufacturing industry.
During this period, the sector not only grew by 56.5%, but also managed to strengthen its weight in total national exports, from 28.1% in 2012 to 31.3% in 2021. And if true is that the number of employees increased by only 18% in the same period, to about 236 thousand people, it should be borne in mind that “the growth of human resources has been accompanied by the digitization of many functions and the replacement of less technologically dense jobs with higher professional profiles added value,” says the executive vice president of the Association of Metalworking, Metallurgical and Related Industries of Portugal (AIMMAP). Rafael Campos Pereira also emphasizes the “great persistence” of companies in prospecting markets and the “strong commitment” to internationalization as “determinants” of success across borders.
And if the long-term outlook is to “more and more increase” exports to the most advanced markets such as Germany, France and Spain, as well as the US, which have grown significantly, in At the same time, the digital and energy transition of companies, which “invest a lot” in decarbonization and self-consumption, as well as in industry 4.0, industrialists are worried in the short term.
“We had by far the best first half ever, in terms of both volume and margin. July and August were positive, but we expect the figures for the last quarter to be substantially lower in many subsectors,” said this official. Metal products, such as cutlery, metal tableware and other household items, as well as construction products, are areas that are already experiencing a decline in orders due to consumer withdrawals.
And the “relentless” rises in production costs, especially energy, are causing “many foundries” – companies with more intensive energy consumption – to “have a hard time”. In spite of everything, and given that Metal Portugal recorded an accumulated growth of 15.8% in the first eight months of the year, even with the expected slowdown in the last quarter, it is certain that the sector will end the year with the breaking the limit of the 20 billion euros turnover abroad. The only unknown is whether it will be much or little above this never-before-seen value.
Another sector with a great tradition in Portugal is the textile and clothing sector, whose exports grew by 31.2% over the past ten years, from 4127 million to 5413 million euros. They represent nearly 10% of foreign manufacturing turnover and 8.5% of total national exports. This year it is growing by 16.7%, from January to August, which allows us to anticipate another record year.
Spain, the main destination market for Portuguese textiles, is losing weight, “but everything else is growing”, with special emphasis on the US, Italy and France, says the president of the Textile and Clothing Association of Portugal, for whom the new European directive on product labelling, which will require that each item is accompanied by a digital certificate with information on sustainability, environmental and social aspects, at the different stages of the production process, represents a “huge opportunity”, insofar as it “demands for European products will increase “.
Sales outside the textile and clothing sector grew by 31.2% over the past decade, from €4,127 million to €5,413 million, representing 8.5% of total national exports.
With Mário Jorge Machado as an immediate guarantor, the demand from Portuguese factories for international brands planning to move their production from Asia to Europe is “at a level not seen since the 1980s”. Mário Jorge Machado reports on a survey conducted by the French Fashion Institute, which asked several European brands if they were planning to increase their production in the area, and received a positive response from the majority. In addition, when asked to indicate the countries evaluated, Portugal was always at the top of the preferences. “In the first decade of this century, we saw the exact opposite movement,” the official recalls.
Mário Jorge Machado believes that this increased demand for made in Portugal is structural, and not just cyclical, not only because Asia, as a geopolitical bloc, “has revealed major weaknesses”, but also because in Europe industry ” is no longer seen as a nuisance, and was seen as an important sector for growth”.
Footwear is also expected to end in 2022 with its best-ever year in foreign markets, crossing the mythical €2 billion barrier for the first time. Ten years ago it exported 1600 million. It is a smaller sector, worth only about 3% of total national exports, but has strengthened its international presence. Not only has it “discovered” new markets, increasing the number of destination countries for Portuguese shoes to 172, but it has also become “the country with the second highest average export price among the main shoe manufacturers in the world,” recalls the communications director. . from APICCAPS. Paulo Gonçalves explains: “We are investing like never before in extra-Community markets, which already represent 19% of exports, compared to 7% a decade ago, and we want to be the great international reference in the field of sustainability and therefore, we have the largest investment in the area, in the amount of 140 million”.
Source: DN
