According to statistics from the China Leather Industry Association (CLIA), one of China’s key shoe production areas, Zhejiang province, exported 800 million pairs of shoes from January to December 2004. However, although the volume was very high, the price of the shoes is said to have remained very low as pricing policies struggled to keep up with the increase in export volumes.

The figures from the CLIA showed that the 700 million pairs made of rubber or plastic were exported at $2.2 per pair and 60 million pairs of leather shoes at $6.2 per pair.

Compared with the export price of the previous year, in 2004 the unit price of rubber or plastic shoe increased by 2.5% while leather shoe prices rose 15.8%. These increases were well below the increase in the quantity of exports that grew by 24.7%. The increase in price was based on the previous price alone and did not take into consideration the increases in the cost of raw material, a customs official said.

The CLIA said in another statement that many shoe factories in Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong province ended 2004 in debt. Feedback from  shoe associations in these areas showed that Wenzhou, Jiangjiang and Dongguan cities have all been suffering from a shortage of skilled workers; for example, Dongguan city estimated that only 80% of the skilled shoe-making jobs were filled.

Experts said that the shortage of workers is caused by the expansion of the shoe industry and the higher qualifications required since overseas customers began o demand higher quality products. Another reason for the lack of workers is thought to be the Government’s preferential policy towards agriculture. It is believed that this is luring some farmers back to farming and away from the shoe producing factories.

The CLIA said that China will have to endure low prices for a long time to come if the industry if not gearing up to make more high-end shoe products even though the price of shoe-making raw material that increased 10% in 2004 might increase further in 2005.

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