High-tech exports from Wenzhou footwear continue to record high

According to statistics from Wenzhou Customs, the Wenzhou area exported 0.79 million pairs in July, and hit a record high after June. It was the highest monthly value since the customs statistics. In the first seven months of Wenzhou, a total of 394 million pairs of shoes were exported, valued at US$1.96 billion, an increase of 33.51% and 33.2% respectively over the same period of last year.

According to statistics, the monthly export volume of shoes in Wenzhou has maintained a sequential growth for the fourth consecutive month since March of this year, and the average export price also increased for the fourth consecutive month. With the recovery of the world economy, Wenzhou shoe industry has gradually recovered and surpassed the level before the financial crisis. Nowadays, the export of Wenzhou shoes enterprises has become increasingly busy. In order to expand the production capacity, various shoe companies are recruiting to meet the needs of customers. The shortage of technicians has once again plagued businesses.

High-end shoes export is decreasing

In the case of limited recovery of external demand, leather products with relatively high unit prices have discouraged some foreign purchasers. The proportion of leather shoes representing high-end products in Wenzhou shoe exports has gradually decreased. In the first five months, exports of leather shoes accounted for 17.07% of the total value of Wenzhou shoe exports, a decrease of 1.71 percentage points from the same period of last year and a decrease of 7.35 percentage points from the same period of 2008.

Li Haijun, manager of the storage and transportation department of Aokang Import and Export Co., Ltd., said that since the second half of last year, they have felt the pressure on this layer one after another. Aokang's development of the European market has been positioned in high-end shoes. However, in recent months, GEOX's orders for long-term cooperation with Aokang have been declining. GEOX's order fluctuation has caused Aokang's European market to shrink.

“Previously, customers bought shoes with 80% leather and 20% PU (leather), but now under the pressure of local consumption levels, the purchasing ratio of leather and PU shoes has just fallen.” Zhejiang Sumeite Shoes Co., Ltd. Xu Xiaodong, head of the company’s foreign trade department, said that he had participated in the latest Canton Fair. He was helpless about the shrinking European market. “At present, we can only maintain this market and retain some old customers.”

Wenzhou Customs officials said that at present, developed countries have not fully recovered from the financial crisis, and the basis for the recovery of external demand is not yet stable. At the same time, the outbreak of the Greek debt crisis has triggered a series of economic problems, which will greatly slow the economic recovery of the euro area. pace. Due to the unclear expectations for the future and the expected appreciation of the renminbi, the buyer’s attitude to wait and see is obvious. Foreign buyers have taken the practice of splitting orders, resulting in an increase in short-term orders this year. Due to the order split, foreign buyers have more conveniences and opportunities to change suppliers. At present, China's major competitors in footwear exports, such as Indonesia, Vietnam, India and other neighboring countries, rely on their lower labor cost advantage, and gradually take a favorable position in the competition with China's footwear exports.

Wenzhou shoe design capabilities

Pan Jianzhong, general manager of Juyi Group Co., Ltd., said that the group’s shoe design capabilities often surprise US international Kia, Polish CCC, Spanish ZARA and other international purchasing giants. In May of this year, the export value of single month was close to US$10 million.

Compared with panic de-stocking at the beginning of the year, European and American companies in the first half of this year are in intensive stocks, which makes the comparison of data in the same period very bright. From the point of view of the export trade market, the EU is still the largest market for footwear exports in Wenzhou, and exports to the United States, Croatia, and other countries are growing rapidly. In the first seven months, Wenzhou exported 131 million pairs of shoes to the EU, an increase of 20.5%, accounting for 33.2% of the total footwear exports in Wenzhou during the same period; exports to the United States of 42 million pairs, an increase of 85.3%; exports to Russia of 22 million pairs, an increase 41.7%; export 0.3 billion pairs of shoes to Croatia, an increase of 96.2%.

Jin Jianfeng, deputy director of the Textile Division of Wenzhou Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, said that the competitiveness of leading shoe companies in Wenzhou is mainly reflected in the direct connection of consumer terminals to the regional advantages of accurate and timely access to consumer market information, supporting integrity of the industrial chain and product structure.

Wenzhou shoe companies fought in emerging markets

Although the EU is still the largest market for shoe exports in Wenzhou, its anti-dumping duties remain a major obstacle to Wenzhou leather shoes. In January this year, the EU decided to extend the deadline for the imposition of anti-dumping duties on leather shoes imported from China and Vietnam for 15 months.

Deng Yunshou, business manager of Juyi Shoes Co., Ltd., said that the giant leather shoes exported by the EU have fallen from 15% of the total share to below 10%. As the anti-dumping duties of the European Union are mainly aimed at China and Vietnam, some international purchasing giants have shifted the purchase of leather shoes to places such as Malaysia and India.

The building of the EU barriers forced Wenzhou shoe companies to become more firmly controlled in the United States and other major markets. Huang Yiyi, deputy general manager of Dongyi Shoes Co., Ltd., said that unlike the previous ones that were tied to the EU market, Dongyi gradually increased its efforts to expand the US market and achieved results.

On the other hand, the recovery growth of Wenzhou shoes on Russia and Ukraine also made people see the dawn. It is reported that after the closure of the Cherkyzhov market, many Wenzhou shoe manufacturers have already moved to Russia to stay in the market. According to previous years' experience, the second half of the year will usher in the delivery season.

For the emerging markets in ASEAN, which are currently high hopes, the leather products are relatively high-end, and the spending power of the ASEAN market needs to be cultivated. However, Wenzhou shoe companies such as Kangnai have begun testing water in ASEAN and opened stores in Vietnam. At the previous Wenzhou Famous Products Fair in Wenzhou, Malaysia, more than 160 temperature companies cut into ASEAN member countries in Malaysia, many of them shoe enterprises.