Spainish leather goods producers continue upmarket shift
Figures supplied by the organisers of Spain’s ‘International Leather Week’ (September 28-30 2001) show that the country is Europe’s second largest footwear producer behind Italy, accounting for 14.1% of the total. (Italy 58.8%).
The same set of figures show that the Spanish footwear industry spends some 107, 000 million pesetas a year on cowhide - the latter accounting for 57.4% of total production, ahead of ship-skin and goat skin
Compiled by the Federation of Spanish Footwear Industries (FICE) and the Spanish Association of Leather Goods, Travel Articles and Related Products (Asefma), the figures also show the continuing shift upmarket being made by country’s leather trade, which has all but abandoned the lower end, now largely occupied by far eastern importers.
Compared with 1999, the average price of shoes produced in Spain increased by 161 pesetas to 2,302 pesetas, while the country’s leather goods exports increased by 20% in 2000. Footwear exports also increased by 6%, accounting for 64.5% in value terms of the total 202.6 million pairs produced.
