The fashion sector is starting to show signs of decline. In the first four months of the year, exports of the textile and clothing industry fell by 2.3% compared to a year earlier, to 2031 million euros. Of these, 1.187 million relate to clothing which, despite a significant drop in knitwear sales, is still up 1%. Footwear also grew by 1% to 640.7 million euros.
In terms of markets, and analysis of the three main customers of the Portuguese textile and clothing industry (ITV), only France is expanding at the beginning of the year, with €340.6 million, 3.8% more than in the same period of 2022 Spain, the main destination of national exports, is down 1.5% to 469.2 million and Germany loses 4.4% to 183 million. Also notable are the decreases in Italy (-14%), the United Kingdom (-10.9%) and the US (-7.6%). Belgium grows by 1.5% to 51.8 million.
Clothing accounts for 58% of ITV’s total exports, totaling €1,187 million. Of this, 810 million is secured by the sale of knitwear abroad, the segment most disadvantaged, with a decrease of 5.3%. But the 17.4% growth in more formal pieces, in fabric, offset losses in knitwear. Figures that do not surprise the president of the clothing association ANIVEC, since this was the most affected segment during the pandemic. But the uncertainty is great.
“The government must quickly start implementing measures to support businesses, whether in treasury, with a more active role for Banco de Fomento, or in vocational training. We need to take advantage of the reduction in business activity to improve our employees. our employees and prepare them for the future,” he defends. César Araújo guarantees that “it is not a question of subsidizing companies, but of keeping the ecosystem together”, not least because, he emphasizes, “it was not the economic sector that provoked this war, but other interests, and only companies have no form to change the situation”.
The President of the Textile and Clothing Association of Portugal agrees. “The situation in the sector is quite difficult. The war is causing a drop in demand and everything indicates that this could take many months,” he says. Mário Jorge Machado – who is in Italy visiting ITMA, the largest and most important international technology fair for the industry – guarantees that the feeling is not exclusive to the Portuguese. Order books are “very small and depressed”, with a drop of 20 to 30% compared to what is usual for this time of year, and this is cross-cutting across the entire chain, from machinery and equipment sales to the apparel segment .
Because the situation is cyclical and not structural, the industry is calling for “adjustment mechanisms”, either through training programs that keep workers engaged, or through simplified layoffs and support, with a guarantee from the state, which enables companies to help companies in greater difficulties. overcome the crisis. “The Ministry of Economic Affairs is already aware of the difficulties the sector is experiencing with this drop in demand, but we will try to schedule a meeting soon. We plan to find solutions together so that companies do not collapse”.
In footwear, exports to countries outside the EU are growing by almost 5%, offsetting the poor performance of the sector’s main markets. Germany and the Netherlands, the first and third largest destinations for Portuguese shoes respectively, are in line with last year. Spain, Belgium and the US are down by 5.6%, 4.7% and 2.2% respectively, while France, the second largest foreign market, grows by almost 4% to 134.2 million. Also noteworthy are the good performances in Italy and the United Kingdom, which grew by 21.9% and 27.3% respectively.
“The economic situation of the main destinations of our exports is very fragile – a few days ago Eurostat announced that the Eurozone is in a technical recession – and there will always be some restraint in terms of consumption. In addition, the retail trade will be less than two recovered years after the pandemic and only in our reference market, Germany, more than 1500 shoe stores were closed last year,” said the spokesperson for the APICCAPS shoe association.
Paulo Gonçalves emphasizes that “all signs indicate that this is going to be a very demanding year for our companies, which will require a more aggressive commercial stance in conquering new markets and new consumers”.
Source: DN
