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Footwear exports likely to fall
The country in the first 10 months of the year exported 269.1 million pairs of shoes, earning US$3.21 billion, down 2 per cent in volume and 16 per cent in value year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
In October alone, the country gained $270mil from exporting of 32.5mil pairs of shoes.
The ministry said that based on the current figures, it would be hard for the footwear industry to meet the annual export target of $4.77 billion.
Deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Leather and Footwear Association Diep Thanh Kiet said that most of footwear producers had export orders for the rest months of the year, but the industry's export value was forecast to total $4.4-4.5 billion this year.
Kiet also said that the export price of footwear products was roughly 3-5 per cent lower than that of the same period last year.
Footwear exports to the EU, which represent 60 per cent of Viet Nam's total footwear export market, are also forecast to remain difficult if the European Commission approves the extension the anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese and Vietnamese shoes this month.
The European Commission recently recommended extending the tariffs of 16.5 per cent on the imported shoes from China and 10 per cent on Vietnamese shoes by a further 15 months.
Viet Nam is one of the largest footwear exporters in the world but the industry still lacks the ability to design its own models and has small-scale production and limited service infrastructure.
In addition, 70 per cent of the materials and sub-materials required by the industry have to be imported, leading to higher production costs.
To improve the situation, the industry has co-operated with the garment and textile industry to organise training courses, trade promotion programmes and the development of the domestic market.
The Viet Nam Leather and Footwear Association also encourages leather and footwear producers to invest more into equipment and workshops, and to improve capacity and quality.
With the world economic recovery, the industry is expected to make $5.3 billion in export value next year.
According to the General Statistics Office, the country last year earned $4.69 billion from exporting footwear.
vietnamnet, vietnamnews
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