At Assocalzaturifici’s AGM the footwear industry’s results were presented for the year 2017 and the first quarter of 2018. In 2017 Italian exports were just short of 9.2 billion euro (+3.5%), but 2018 has started with results that were lower than expected (export +0.1% in value). Pilotti: “It has been a lukewarm start, but let’s not be too disheartened”.
The first quarter of 2018 fell short of expectations for the footwear sector. The recovery has been long-awaited but is struggling to get going, despite 2017 closing with moderately positive results for all the main indicators. These results had appeared to suggest a trend reversal, but the unflattering results for the first part of 2018 mean that any such judgement has to be put on ice. This is the snapshot of the Italian footwear industry that was presented today to associates and professionals from the sector during Assocalzaturifici’s AGM, that was held in Confindustria Moda’s new headquarters in Milan.
The economic environment for the sector is still characterised by positive and negative features, but is driven by exports which totalled 211.1 million pairs in 2017 (5.2million more than 2016, +2.5%) for a total value of almost 9.2billion euro (+3.5%). “This result is proof that we’re on the right track – comments Annarita Pilotti, chair of Assocalzaturifici – and despite the slow start to the year, we need to keep toiling away and not be too disheartened”.
The data for the first quarter of 2018 points to a lacklustre start, albeit without any major shocks, and prudence and caution remain the key words in the opinion of the industry’s players. “2018 began with a slowdown in foreign sales and production trends – continues Pilotti -. Exports are up by a tentative +0.1% in value, but are more than 3% down in volume compared to the same period last year. Moreover, there is concern over certain negative signs in important international export markets. In particular, in the CIS area, the recovery we had seen in 2017 has stalled and in the first three months of 2018 there was a 7% reduction in value and a 2% reduction in quantity, with reductions of 10% for Russia. The slowdown in the Far East was also confirmed (-6.3% in value), as additional growth in China and South Korea was not sufficient to offset losses in Japan and Hong Kong”.
But while the first results for 2018 show a lacklustre trend, the final results for 2017, that were presented during the AGM, confirmed a positive performance for a number of indicators. A year marked by cautious optimism, thanks also to slight increases in exports and production and a +8.5% improvement in the balance of trade. Total turnover for 2017 was just short of 14.3billion euro, with an increase of almost one per cent compared to 2016 (+0.8%).
“We were hoping that 2017 was going to be the turning point for the industry – states Annarita Pilotti – For the first time, after three years of reductions, Made in Italy production showed signs of a recovery in volume, as we moved back above the threshold of 190 million pairs of shoes, with a value of approximately 7.8billion euro (+3.3%). Our exports reached their highest value in 15 years, even after discounting for inflation: in terms of foreign markets, which account for 85% of production, the EU confirmed the 2016 levels (+1.4%, with +2.7% in value) while total figures for exports to non-EU countries were very encouraging (+5.1% in volume and +4.4% in value)”.
But the extended period of economic difficulty in recent years continues to leave its mark, especially in terms of Italian consumption and employment levels. “In 2017, for the tenth consecutive year, there was a fall in Italian household consumption in terms of quantity (-0.4%, with -0.2% in terms of expenditure) – concludes Pilotti – and the employment situation is still precarious, with a fall in the number of companies and workers (of 2.7% and 0.2% respectively)”. In terms of these last figures, there were no positive variations in the first quarter of 2018. Indeed, the start of the year has been flat in terms of domestic consumption (- 0.4% in quantity and +0.6% in expenditure, compared to the same period in 2017) with a further reduction in the number of companies and industry workforce compared to December 2017 (-1% and -0.4% respectively).
Press release
Assocalzaturifici
19 June 2018