Alarm in the Italian footwear industry
With the start of a new year, Italian footwear manufacturers find it impossible to draw a perspective on 2021, taking into account the consequences of the pandemic in their country, which still continue to cause devastating consequences.
From ASSOCALZATURIFICI, the entity that groups shoemakers, there is a strong concern for the coming months, although they recognized that the third quarter was better than the previous one.
According to surveys conducted from January to September 2020, disseminated by ISTAT (National Institute of Statistics), 101 companies were lost, 2,600 jobs and production fell 29.4%.
According to Siro Badon, president of the industrial association, “the data shows a sector severely hit by the health emergency. The first timid signs of demand returning to normal run the risk of being immediately canceled by the second pandemic wave, with serious repercussions on the resilience of the sector. There is great concern for the next few months”.
In the first 9 months, footwear spending in Italy also fell 23%, and the presumed recovery from online sales only partially managed to cushion the fall. To the point that even the sneaker, a product resistant to the pandemic, showed a drop in consumption between 15 and 20%.
Exports fell 17.2% in value for a volume of 32 million pairs less. The only external market with a positive sign (in value) is the Korean one. Internal sales by regions also showed significant reductions, which can be summarized as follows: Veneto -13.4%, Lombardy -18%, Puglia -22%, Le Marche -27.7% Tuscany -30.3% , Campania -42.4%.
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