Vietnam’s “Customs Online” reported on September 8 that since the beginning of the year, Vietnam’s footwear exports to major markets such as the United States, China, Japan, Belgium, and Germany have declined sharply.
According to the latest information from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the leather and related products industry grew by 2.9% month-on-month in August this year, but fell by 3.6% year-on-year. In the first eight months combined, the year-on-year decrease reached 4.3%.
Similar to textiles and clothing, the footwear manufacturing and export industries have also been impacted by the COVID-19 epidemic. In the first eight months of this year, footwear exports totaled approximately US$10.9 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 8.6%.
In terms of market, in the first seven months, the United States ranked first, with a total of US$3.43 billion. Although it accounted for more than 36% of the total exports of this commodity, it was still year-on-year. down nearly 9%.
China ranked second with a 12% share, with total exports reaching US$2.24 billion, a year-on-year decrease of more than 19%. The rest are Belgium, Japan, and Germany, with total exports falling by more than 17%, 2%, and 10% respectively year-on-year.
Leather footwear industry sales are forecast to continue to face difficulties between now and the end of the year, as much of the industry depends on the United States and Europe’s ability to control the epidemic. Currently, the biggest driving force for the growth of the industry is the EVFTA, which was officially implemented on August 1.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade stated that in order to make full use of the EVFTA agreement to increase exports, many companies in the leather and footwear industry have proposed such things as restructuring their institutions and being ready to fulfill their commitments under the agreement. Plans for factories and raw materials, while increasing investment in equipment to improve product quality.
Phan Thi Thanh Château, secretary-general of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Luggage Association, believes that the EU is the traditional market for Vietnamese leather shoes, accounting for nearly 30% of total exports every year, about 6 billion Dollar.
Pan’s Youth said: “We expect that the EVFTA agreement will promote more footwear exports to this market, thereby helping to make up for the export losses in the early months of this year. ”
But Panshi Qingchun also expressed concern that the EU market conditions are very strict, such as technical requirements, product quality, labor force, and environmental conditions.
These are factors that companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, must significantly improve before they can enter the market.
In the leather footwear industry, companies’ understanding of EVFTA is still limited. The reason is that production, processing and export are the main focus, so it still relies heavily on international customers. Market sales are almost entirely controlled by customers, while Vietnamese companies are only responsible for production.
At the same time, companies lack initiative in developing markets. In addition, in terms of internal resources such as human resources and infrastructure, the company cannot meet the demand due to its small scale and decentralization. </p
