US Becomes Vietnam’s Largest Footwear Export Market

Facing difficulties in exporting footwear products to the Europe Union (EU) markets Vietnam has seen advantages in shipping the products to the US market and it has become Vietnam’s largest footwear export market.

In the first quarter of 2005, footwear exports to the US market saw high growth rate of over 30 per cent - the highest rate in comparison to other major export markets - with total revenues of US$111.9 million.

According to a recent forecast, footwear exports to the US market will continue to rise as the it continues its policy of limiting imports the products from China. Moreover, one of our biggest rivals Brazil is facing difficulties in exporting its products to the giant market as the Brazilian currency, the Real, has appreciated against the US dollar.

In line with the impressive growth in exports to the US market, footwear exports to Italian and Spanish markets have also recovered after a long period of time. Footwear exports to Italy rose by 13 per cent with value of US$36.51 million in the first quarter of this year and exports to Spain increased by 19 per cent, valued US$19.39 million.

However, footwear exports to Germany and France are facing difficulties with growth rates and footwear prices decreasing considerably. In the first quarter, footwear exports to Germany decreased by 27.65 per cent against the same period last year, with total revenues of US$71 million. Key footwear products exported to Germany include sport shoes. However, average price of sport shoes is reported at US$5.6/pair, much lower than average prices in other EU markets.

Meanwhile, footwear export to France also fell by 24.55 per cent on-year down to US$32.71 million in the January-March period. France was still Vietnam’s second largest canvas shoes export market. However, the average price was nearly US$3, lower than average export price of nearly US$4 and average price of US$3.5/pair to EU markets.

• B.T