Portugal'S Footwear Industry Development Advantages And Challenges

< p > by the end of 2012, Portugal had a total of < a href= "http://cailiao.sjfzxm.com/Matertial/show/default.aspx" > shoemaking enterprises < /a > 1300, with nearly 40 thousand employees.

In 2012, the output was 73 million pairs and the output value was 1 billion 780 million euros.

They are mainly distributed in northern Oporto and surrounding areas.

In 2012, Portuguese footwear exports amounted to 1 billion 650 million euros, accounting for 3.6% of the total exports of the country, representing an increase of 4.2% over the same period last year.

The top export destinations are France, Spain, Germany, Holland, the United Kingdom and so on.

Portugal, also a big importer of footwear, imported 540 million euros in 2012, accounting for 1% of the total imports of the country, down 4.8% from the same period last year.

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< p > Portuguese shoemaking industry < /p >

< p > footwear is one of the few remaining Portuguese trade surplus products in Portugal and has made positive contributions to the national trade balance.

In recent years, exports continued to grow, the annual trade balance maintained at around 800 million euros.

According to the global footwear industry annual report 2012, Portugal exported 1 billion 550 million euros in 2011, accounting for 3.7% of the total exports of the country, an increase of 16% over the same period last year, and the total export volume ranked eleventh in the world.

95% of the annual output is exported to 132 countries in the world, of which 68% are EU members and 90% are exported to EU countries.

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< p > Portuguese footwear export category, more than 70% are < a href= "//www.sjfzxm.com" > leather shoes products < /a >, the rest are rubber (23155485.00,2.14%) and plastic (10690,60.00,0.56%) shoes (11%), textile shoes (7%), waterproof shoes (5%) and others (6%).

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< p > over the past two years, although the overall export situation of Portuguese footwear has been good, exports to China have continued to shrink.

In 2011, Portuguese exports to China decreased by 15.7% to 312 thousand euros compared with the same period last year. Leather products accounted for 93% of the 10172 pairs of footwear exported to China, with an average export price of 30.59 US dollars, more than double the average price in 2010, mainly due to the sharp decline in the number of cheap textile shoes exports, thereby raising the export average price.

In 2010, 13822 pairs of textile shoes were exported, and only 409 pairs were exported in 2011.

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Portugal is Europe's traditional shoemaking power. After half a century of accumulation and precipitation, Portugal has gradually formed the following two advantages in the international market: < /p > p

< p > leather shoes making.

Since the mid 90s of last century, influenced by the emerging countries such as China and India, Portugal has gradually abandoned the low and middle end market and has taken a place in the high-end market, especially in the production process and quality of leather products.

According to the data, in 2011, 4 pairs of leather shoes were produced in every 5 pairs of shoes produced by Portugal, and the output of leather shoes exceeded 85% of the annual output of shoes.

In addition, the leather shoes produced by Portugal have always been loved by the British royal family.

At the wedding of Prince William and Princess Kate in Britain last year, the princess's mother and sister wore the brand shoes of Portuguese Al Sal (Helsar).

In such a banquet, "show up" and "celebrity effect" have made the world pay attention to Portuguese footwear brands.

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< p > business operation mode.

Portuguese footwear enterprises are mainly small and medium-sized enterprises, accounting for nearly 90% of the total number of shoe-making enterprises in the country, and the average number of employees in these enterprises is no more than 30.

"At present, we are the only country in Europe that does not produce OEM, and most of them are made by hand," said the responsible person of the Portuguese footwear association.

Although our company is small in scale, it can still make the quickest response to orders, that is, it can finish and deliver in a short time.

He also said, "this looks very common, but in today's international shoe market is very valuable."

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At present, the biggest challenge facing the Portuguese shoe industry is how to give full play to its own advantages, consolidate the traditional European market and enter the emerging markets at the same time. P

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< p > to this end, the Portuguese government has formulated three major strategic development directions of "innovation, high quality and internationalization" and expects to invest 300 million euros in funds before 2015.

Specifically, "innovation" and "high quality" refer to the innovation of style and the improvement of wearability and comfort, mainly aiming at the manufacture of leather shoes with traditional superior projects; "internationalization" mainly refers to commercial promotion overseas.

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In the past three years, under the leadership of AICEP (Portuguese foreign investment and Trade Promotion Bureau) and APICCAPS (Portugal a href= "//www.sjfzxm.com/news/" > Footwear Association < /a >), the domestic shoe-making enterprises have participated in more than 70 promotional activities in more than 40 overseas countries in less than p years.

In the current production equipment and other hardware facilities have little difference, how to do business promotion is the key to promote the further development of domestic footwear products and better cope with international competition.

Through the promotion, not only will we consolidate the position of overseas market, diversify the export target market, but also expand our visibility abroad, lay a good foundation for entering the emerging market and promote the internationalization process of our new enterprises.

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