2025 FORECASTS
Published: 22nd Nov 2024
By common consent, 2024 has been a difficult year for almost all businesses, organisations, government departments and people in the SA leather value chain. The main exceptions would have been successful exporters, because the domestic market has been getting poorer year after year. The underlying reasons are mostly to do with the policies and performance of domestic government. The many global problems have lesser or less direct impacts – except for shipping issues from China, which have a very direct impact.
However, there are some signs that 2025 could be better, our respondents say…
- SAFLIA: Hopefully the slide will be reversed
Durban, KZN, SA – My forecast for 2024 is that production will be 12.5% down on last year. Meaning 41,690,000 pairs.The last time we saw such low volumes was in 2007.My forecast for next year is that production will be stabilised at the same level as this year – let’s say 42,000,000 pairs. However, with some serious inte ...moreThe Road Ahead: A forecast for South Africa’s footwear and leather goods industries
Durban, KZN, SA – The South African footwear and leather goods industries are navigating a challenging yet potentially transformative period. Shaped by a mix of longstanding hurdles and emerging opportunities, their future remains uncertain as the global market continues to shift rapidly in the wake of COVID-19. While difficulties p ...moreAMSA: ‘Perturbing trend’ in imports
Durban, KZN, SA – As the economy still seems to be precariously poised due to various exogenous variables, I remain very cautious about looking into the future.The formal sector of the economy has not fared well in terms of employment as measured by Clothing Industry Bargaining Council figures (see attached chart).It appears that th ...moreNCRF: ‘A very complicated stew’
Cape Town, W. Cape, SA – The NCRF has 10 members with very different approaches to all sorts of things, so a forecast is difficult.We’re keeping an eye on factors including reduced interest rates, the two-pot retirement system, and political outcomes, and there is a degree of optimism, but I’m not willing to attach any f ...more
Footwear Industry Articles
- Manufacturer-buyer event: Among the manufacturer comments
The 2-day Retail Buyer Engagement & Manufacturer Onboarding Programme on 01 and 02 July was part of an effort to kickstart the R-CTFL Masterplan – which, from a footwear perspective at least, has appeared stalled.It was sponsored by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and implemented through the R-CTFL Masterplan Footwea ...morePlastics SA ‘celebrates 30 years of inspiring South Africans to take action against litter’ – but so much more is needed
Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA – Plastics SA, the umbrella body which represents all sectors of the SA plastics industry, will hold its 30th annual ‘Clean-Up and Recycle Week’ from 14-20 September.In a release, Plastics SA said the annual event “has grown into one of South Africa’s largest collaborative environmen ...moreHow FootJoy’s superbly crafted shoes influenced my life
An Informative & Nostalgic Letter written in April 2025 to two executives at Acushnet (USA) – A leading golf corporation which includes FootJoy Shoes.RE: FootJoy & II recall the very first pair of FootJoy golf shoes my late father bought for me in July 1976. This wasn’t my first interaction with the brand that I had al ...more
Leather Industry Articles
- OBLIQUITY
Shareholder value is usually the result of running a good business, not a reliable operational principle for running one ...moreSam Setter's 'Pills': You have to be very clever to understand this document, but hopefully it will do some goodIn June, UNIDO launched an impressive document called “Guideline”. It is a very detailed, environment oriented, technical and scientific document where the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Corporate Carbon Footprint (CCP) play a prominent role. The document, peer reviewed, has been developed for UNIDO with the main contributor ...moreFifteen million sheep in the UK to share among shearersAccording to the UK government, its sheep population decreased over the past year by 1.7% but that still leaves a flock of over 30 million. For comparison, the domestic flock in South Africa numbers about 21 million and New Zealand has some 23 million. Australia, with more than 70 million, has a wool clip of approximately 325,000 tonnes. ...more
PPE Industry Articles
- RealPPE Marketplace: Where safety meets smarter procurement
RealPPE Marketplace is a 100% black women-owned B2B PPE marketplace built for South African industry. Founded after years of witnessing safety officers and procurement teams lose time to fragmented suppliers, inconsistent pricing, and missing documentation, RealPPE was created to bring structure and reliability to industrial PPE sourcing. ...moreProtecting the workforce: The critical role of PPE
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is utilised in a work-environment as part of a larger prevention plan, because on its own protection is limited and may even provide a false sense of protection.An occupational disease prevention plan must be an actionable approach that identifies workplace health hazards, evaluates exposure, and i ...more2nd SA PPE conference being planned for 2027 under the heading ‘Smart protection: the next era of PPE’Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA – Technology, artificial intelligence, connected devices and data are transforming the way we think about personal protection equipment — from how PPE is procured and selected, to how it is used, monitored and managed in the workplace.After the successful launch of the South African PPE conference hel ...more
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