(Finance) – The national footwear sector archive a first semester with an fdecrease both in turnover (-9.1%) and in exports (down -8.5% in value and -6.8% in quantity in the first 5 months). In strong Istat index also drops of industrial production (-19.5%). This is the snapshot of the sector taken from the latest report produced by the Confindustria Fashion Accessories Study Center for Assocalzaturifici, which also shows a decrease in purchases by Italian families (-2.1% both in volume and expenditure).
For Giovanna Ceolini, President of Assocalzaturifici: “The phase of weak demand, held back by a lower propensity to purchase by consumers, by the slowdown of various economies (not only the Chinese one) and by the uncertainty linked to geopolitical turbulence in various areas of the planet, has orders were severely penalised, not even sparing luxury. The negative situation is having strong repercussions on the production rates of companies, which have amplified the use of redundancy payments. Furthermore, the negative balances in the number of employees and active companies are growing compared to last December”.
The most significant effects were seen in theexchange with foreign countries. “The first to suffer – continues Ceolini – were the exports, which have always been the driving force of the sector, given that 85% of the pairs produced in Italy are sold outside the national borders. Following the contraction in foreign sales (-8.5%), the sector trade balance, although positive for 2.34 billion euros, shows a decline of -4.7%, despite the reduction in imports (-11.6%)”.
Looking at the export data in detail, the slight declines in sales in EU partners (-1.6% in value and -2.4% in quantity, supported by the stability of flows towards France, +2.6% in value and +1.5% in volume, confirmed as the first destination) are accompanied by declines in the order of -15% in extra-EU outlets. Among these, the only positive signs are recorded for the Middle East (+10.7% in value) and the Far East (+2.9%, with China +12.6% and Hong Kong +22.6%), but they should be read above all in light of the changes in the distribution strategies of luxury brands, particularly rooted in these areas, which now directly ship goods to the final destination markets that previously passed through hubs in Switzerland (which not surprisingly marks a -54.7% in value). The USA loses -3.5% in value (but with a decidedly more marked -14.7% in volume), while Russia, after the collapse of 2022 at the beginning of the conflict and the rebound in 2023, shows a decline of -21.7% in value on January-May 2023.
Even on the front of internal consumption data are not positive: in the first 6 months, Italian families’ purchases are down by -2.1%both in volume and expenditure. Analyzing the type of footwear, the most marked declines were in men’s shoes (-5.7% in quantity and -4.6% in expenditure), while women’s and children’s/teenagers’ shoes showed reductions in the order of -3%, both in pairs and in value. “Sports shoes and sneakers” showed the least severe contractions (-1% in volume and -0.6% in value). Finally, slippers fell by 1.7% in quantity (despite the holding of women’s shoes), with a -0.7% in expenditure. While household purchases show a less than rewarding evolution, good news instead comes once again from the shopping of foreigners visiting Italy, thanks to the increase in arrivals and presences of foreign tourists in the Belpaese, after the sustained growth of 2023.
On the employment front, the prolongation of the unfavourable economic phase is putting the stability of companies to the testforced to make massive use of wage integration tools. In fact, in the leather supply chain, number of authorized hours increased by +138.5% in the first 6 months, and is at levels 4 and a half times higher than the same period in 2019 pre-Covid. The selection process among companies has also become more stringent, with inevitable repercussions on employment trends. At the end of June, compared to December, there were 107 fewer shoe factoriesBetween industry and crafts (-3%), with a negative balance of -2,359 employees (-3.2%): a sudden reversal of the trend, therefore, compared to the timid recovery recorded by the sector’s workforce in the 2023 financial statements compared to 2022 (+1.8%).
As for sentiment, operators’ expectations for the second part of the year exclude major improvements in the short term. From the survey conducted among the associated companies, it emerges that the share of those who expect a decrease in turnover in the current third quarter compared to the same months of 2023 is still the majority (56% of the panel). And, with reference to the forecasts for the entire year, 3 out of 4 entrepreneurs believe that 2024 for their company will be worse than the previous year.