CLE hopes to improve links with France
According to India’s Council for Leather Exports (CLE), India’s leather sector could benefit from closer links with France and should also aspire to emulate its success in the leather industry.
According to the council, France is the tenth largest importer of leather products with a 2.3% share in global imports and the fourth largest exporter with a 4.5% share in global exports. Its main export markets are Italy, China, Turkey, the US and Germany, while its main import destinations are the US, Spain, Australia, Zimbabwe and Germany.
According to the CLE, France’s earnings from the luggage and leathergoods sector are estimated at EUR1.6 billion, second only to Germany. Handbags accounted for 43% share of the market, followed by suitcases (20%), small leathergoods (16%), business cases (7%), belts ( 8%), and other leathergoods (6%). France imported luggage and leathergoods worth EUR1.7 billion, accounting for 18% of all EU imports. According the council, France accounts for nearly 7% of India’s total leathergoods exports.
“France has to be viewed as a potentially interesting market by exporters from developing countries, especially India. All we need is the right kind of product at interesting prices to target a larger ‘pie’ in this,” said a CLE contact.
Other important export markets for India include Germany with a 12.7% share, the UK (12.5%), Italy (11.7%), the US (9.1%), Hong Kong (11%), Spain (6.5%), the Netherlands (3.3%), Belgium (1.8%), the UAE (1.8%) and Australia (1.2%).
