The Portuguese industry in the sector is experiencing a tree huge demand from major international brands. Who says that it is the chairman of the shoe association APICCAPS, who fears for the future. For Luís Onofre, it is essential that the industry prepares for what is to come.
“With the slowdown of the pandemic, a consumption frenzy has started, but we must be prepared for a brutal collision of a radical decline in consumption in the near future. Just look at the loss of purchasing power of European consumers with inflation rising and interest rates rises,” the administrator warns.
The businessman’s statements to Dinheiro Vivo were made in the context of Micam, the most relevant world fair in the sector, which starts today in Milan, Italy, as the export of the activity increases.
The power from outside
In the first seven months of the year, Portuguese companies exported 48.4 million pairs of shoes worth €1,181 million, an increase of 18.75% in quantity and 22.4% in value. That is 216 million euros more than in the same period last year. The average price grew by 3.1% to 24.38 euros per pair. Figures praised by the State Secretary for Economic Affairs, João Neves, pointing to the “massive recovery in activity” in the sector that has managed to “make this year the best ever, or come very close to it.” come”.
Compared to the pre-pandemic period, this value represents an increase of 8.5% compared to 2019, but lags behind 2018 and 2017. After surpassing the best year ever in the first half of the year, the sector has (2017, when it reached 1956 million sold abroad), shoe exports slowed slightly in July, growing 6.6% year-on-year, but less than the same month in the three years prior to the pandemic. The traditional seasonality of the sector helps to explain. And the belief is that August and September will already mean another leap forward in sales abroad.
consumer priorities
Whether this will be enough to cross the 2000 million mark remains to be seen. “I find it difficult,” APICCAPS communications director Paulo Gonçalves says cautiously, noting that the growth forecasts of the major economies have been revised downwards.
“We are working to give the sector a very positive export result, but we recognize that within a month and a half, the main concern, in Central and Northern Europe, will be the cold, if it comes. gas for heating and how much it goes costs. Consumer priorities will change completely,” emphasizes Paulo Gonçalves.
Fewer Portuguese exhibitors
And it is in this international promotion effort that the presence at Micam, the most relevant world fair in the sector, which starts this Sunday in Milan, Italy, is part. Portugal is represented by 41 exhibitors (in addition to the 35 tanneries and parts that will be on Lineapelle, which opens on September 21), a small number, compared to September 96, 2017, when the largest attendance was reached. , or on September 81, 2019.
Figures APICCAPS admits will be “barely” repeated, at least for the foreseeable future. “It is a more modest presence, but it should be borne in mind that at the same time more investments have been made in the field of digital promotion,” emphasizes Paulo Gonçalves, stressing that “we have never had so many companies bet on online promotion “. There are more than 70 of them, with a total investment that already exceeds four million euros in the so-called Support for the Enhancement of the Offer.
30 million euros to internationalize it
And the Economy Minister, António Costa Silva, who is visiting Micam today, accompanied by Foreign Minister João Neves, brings good news to business people about external promotion. As announced at the end of the Council of Ministers on Thursday, when the package of extraordinary measures to support companies was unveiled, the cabinet will launch the tender for support for joint internationalization projects, worth 30 euros, in September. .
This will be the first, and possibly only, transition notice between Portugal 2020 and the next Community Support Framework, Portugal 2030, and is intended to respond to a “specific situation” arising from the need for companies to increase the appointments of their places. on the stock markets well in advance. What was seen as a subject that would deserve “special treatment”.
The measure was welcomed on the part of APICCAPS. “In our view, this is an appropriate and very timely measure. At a time when the first signs of economic slowdown are beginning to appear on an international scale, with the World Bank and the European Commission lowering economic forecasts, we feel the need for a new life in terms of external promotion, it is now important that this support is quickly streamlined for the benefit of companies,” says Paulo Gonçalves.
diversify markets
As for PT2030, negotiations are still ongoing in Brussels with the European Commission, and the government’s perspective is that final approval will be guaranteed by the end of the year. “We will essentially have reproduced in the PT2030 what are the tools we have focused on businesses in the current framework, but with a stronger focus and allocation on the issues of decarbonisation, sustainability and the circular economy,” he explains. . Joao Neves.
With regard to supporting internationalisation, the government wants to “improve the working mechanisms of the instruments” and “reward association structures and projects that have produced more results, to the detriment of others who meet the objectives, but whose effectiveness, from the point of view of the actions of the companies themselves, is more limited”.
In addition, it is also the intention to strengthen the diversification of markets. “We do not want to lose market share in Europe, on the contrary, we want to strengthen our positions, but we must not depend on a mature market as that of the EU and therefore the instruments of internationalization will reward the effort of access or first steps in new markets, especially the US and Canada, large and advanced markets where our companies have everything to gain,” defends João Neves.
Absent from the fair as an exhibitor, since the pandemic, Luís Onofre is again present at Micam as president of APICCAPS. “The big, big brands that were on the fair went away little by little, betting on showrooms and the large multi-brand stores ceased to exist. For my type of footwear it is not responsible to go to Micam, we are looking for the budget we have for the onlinewith very interesting results,” he assures.
Ilídia Pinto is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo
The journalist traveled to Milan at the invitation of APICCAPS-Portuguese Association of Footwear, Components, Leather Goods and Substitutes
Source: DN
