Shoe production in Portugal decreases by 40%
Portugal’s shoe-making industry, one of the country’s main exporters, has declined significantly over the past decade, with shoe production down by 40% since 2001. The country now produces 63.7 million pairs per year, and sales have dropped from EUR1.9 billion to EUR1.3 billion.
Portuguese shoe companies are often small family-owned firms, lacking the scope and resources to launch a global brand of their own, according to Leandro de Melo, director of CTCP, the Portuguese footwear industry’s technology and research centre. “A lot of money is necessary to create an image, and we haven’t been able to do that yet,” he said. There are exceptions: Portuguese labels such as Fly London and Atelier do Sapato have been able to make an impression on the global market.
Alfredo Jorge Moreira, executive director of APICCAPS, Portugal’s shoe and leather producers' association, told The Wall Street Journal: “The markets do not have the correct perception of the quality of Portuguese products.”
The Portuguese parliament is due to approve its budget for 2011, which includes EUR3 billion in spending cuts and about EUR1.5 billion in additional taxes, on top of earlier austerity measures. The country's two major unions recently held a nationwide strike against the budget on 24 November, shutting down public transport, hospitals and some factories in a sign of rising social tensions.
