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
- Stokies: New owner plans to resurrect a homegrown brandScottburgh, KZN, SA – Trendy Shoes, a KZN South Coast retailer which also has its own footwear factory producing footwear for its own 3 stores, bought the long-established but run-down brand, Stokies, from Faulks Footwear, which has now closed. Hussain Khan answers our questions.What attracted you to Stokies?What attracted us to Sto ...morePalm Footwear: ‘One family’Palm Footwear was founded in July 1966 by Kasie Pattundeen, with 18 staff, making slippers.60 years later, with over 800 staff, it is among the biggest employers in the SA footwear industry and among the biggest manufacturers by volume.It remains a family business, headed by Rajeev and Kiran Pattundeen, with their children, Srishti and Rt ...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
- Zimbabwe Leather Development Council lobbies for Government contracts
The Zimbabwe Leather Development Council (ZLDC) is lobbying policymakers to open up public procurement contracts to local leather manufacturers, arguing that Government contracts are essential to reviving the country’s struggling leather value chain.Speaking on the sidelines of the Zimbabwe Industrialisation Conference and Expo (ZIC ...moreBeyond the data trap: Why better decisions matter more than just more data
On 1st July 2026 I presented at the FILK Leather Days conference and asked the delegates to consider “Sustainability through a new lens: resetting how we view impacts in the leather value chain”. This month’s article therefore explores this idea a little more with a focus on how we view data and whether it can blind us t ...moreWorld first - compost: Possible, desirable, not necessarily simple
The world of compostable leather is not as historically accurate as the industry would like it to be. The definition of leather is: “hide or skin with its original fibrous structure more or less intact, tanned to be imputrescible (rot-proof). Hair or wool may or may not have been removed, and the material can include split layers or ...more
PPE Industry Articles
- New OHS regulations coming into force later this year mean PPE needs to be reviewed, too
In March 2025, the Physical Agents Regulations (and their guidelines) and the Noise Exposure Regulations (and their guidelines) of the OHSAct were published, with an 18-month time-period promulgation date to September 2026, allowing employers time to upgrade their Health & Safety requirements to comply with the new published regulatio ...moreBiodegradable disposable gloves ‘a growing trend’ in PPE
The poster is available to download in English in both PNG and PDF formats hereCompostable and biodegradable PPE are said to be rapidly growing trends internationally, lead by brands like Showa and HaPPE Earth.The nova-Institut für politische und ökologische Innovation GmbH in Hürth, Germany, has published an updated versio ...moreChina-made firefighting equipment now needs verification of conformity with SANS standardsPretoria, Gauteng, SA – Firefighting equipment is among the 25 product categories published on 01 April by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition for a mandatory Pre-Export Verification of Conformity (PVoC) Programme.The system will require certain goods shipped from China to be tested and certified before they enter the ...more
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