April, the cruellest month for Italian leathergoods
Assopellettieri, the main representative body of leathergoods manufacturers in Italy, has published preliminary indications of the industry’s performance in 2020.
Definitive figures have still to become available, but the covid-19 pandemic took its toll, Assopellettieri said, with industrial production and turnover likely to have fallen by more than one-third year on year.
Output collapsed in March and April 2020 at the time of Italy’s initial lockdown, with April the cruellest month. Calculations that wider industrial group Confindustria Moda has made using official government statistics suggest that the manufacture of handbags, luggage and other leathergoods fell by 99.1% in April 2020 compared to the same month the year before.
From the same sources, Assopellettieri said retail sales in Italy of leathergoods were down by 89.8% in April 2020 compared to April 2019.
It said there had been no significant rebound after the spring lockdown. In addition, it reported “a decidedly poor end to the year and an unfavourable start to 2021”, with a new wave of the pandemic making the restart difficult.
