The Colombian association of leather and footwear manufacturers (ACICAM) has claimed that the sector’s performance over the last ten months has dropped by the equivalent of 10% as a result of currency exchange issues. While the value of the US dollar—on which most export sales are based—has fallen, the Colombian government’s moves to revalue the peso have also dented the value of leather and footwear products.

This combination has made Colombian exports less competitive in the world market, and has led to a 12% drop in footwear exports in the last ten months and a 7.1% fall in shipments of other leather goods.

ACICAM’s president, Luis Gustavo Flórez, said this week that his organisation had engaged a specialist Brazilian consultancy to help leather and footwear manufacturers in Colombia re-structure their businesses and become less dependent on the value of the US dollar. He described the programme as “a very rigorous change-management process”, with the focus on production management.