S&V Weekly Newsletter Vol.6 No.31, Aug 3, 2020

This Newsletter is sponsored by SAFLIA

Please note: Click on any ad to go to the advertiser’s website

Retail last week

Mostly, they look

Farino Footwear. Women's footwear, 1 store.
Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA – Trading last week was poor, member Farid Noorbhai said, and there had not been much of an upswing when trading resumed after the longdown.
       "The average consumer is feeling the pinch," he said. "She'd rather buy food than shoes."
       He said the only options available to get people into the store were to advertise and reduce prices. "They do come in," he said, "but mostly they just look."

Formal has been hard hit

Suits Society. Men's outfitter, 3 stores.
Durban, KZN, SA – "Terrible. Whether or not this is what we should be expecting, it doesn't make it any easier," director Neel Pema said.
       He said there had been "a small rush" for about 10 days when retail reopened, "and we thought we weren't in the wrong line of business after all".
       "I'm the third generation in this business. Two years ago we changed from Mister Nat to Suits Society, because everyone - chains, independents - was into the jeans and casual business, and I thought there are always matric dances and weddings. Now, however, I've had to bring some casual wear into the store.
       "We're traders. We'll carry on."

Catering to the older customer

Rex Shoes & Shoe Repairs. Family footwear and repairer, 1 store.
Queenstown, E. Cape, SA  – May was busy, member Kishor Harry said, June was quieter, but sales of women's boots and men's and women's slippers were good. July was quiet, generally, but month end was good.
       He said while many people were out of work, Queenstown served a large farming community as well.
       He said Rex had benefitted from some chain outlets not being able to get imported stock.
       Also, he was trying not to compete head-to-head with chains. "They cater mostly for the young, with synthetic footwear," he said. "We stock and promote mostly locally made leather footwear, with an emphasis on comfort and large sizes, and we attract older people, many of them with problem feet.
       "On the repair side, we see people are getting fed up with synthetic footwear."
       Rex was also clearing dead stock with specials.

Manufacturing

World footwear production growth 'slowing'

Porto, Portugal  – Global footwear production was "already in slowdown before the Covid-19 pandemic", according to the Portuguese Footwear Association, APICCAPS, which last week published the 10th edition of its World Footwear Yearbook.
       In an accompanying release, it said: "2019 saw a worldwide slowdown in the footwear industry. That slowdown will certainly continue throughout 2020, given the reality of COVID-19. In 2019 footwear production and exports grew by 0.6% and 0.1%, respectively...Over the course of the last 10 years, during which the World Footwear Yearbook has been published, worldwide footwear production has increased by 21.2% and global exports have grown by 10.6% in volume and by 59.1% in value."
       According to the yearbook, Asia is not just the biggest producer and exporter of footwear, it also accounts for more than half of footwear consumption. Europe and North America consume 15% each. At country level, China, India and the US are the biggest consumer markets. The European Union, if taken as one region, would represent the second largest consumer market for footwear with 2 680 million pairs consumed in 2019.
       Per capita footwear consumption varies from between 1.6 pairs in Africa to 5.6 pairs in North America.
       "Asia dominates exports but Europe increased market share over the last decade," it says. "15 billion pairs, representing 62% of all footwear produced, where exported in 2019."
       In terms of volume, 83.9% of exports are from Asia, which is a slight decrease over the last decade. It says all continents except Europe have shown a decrease in exports. Europe's share of world exports climbed by 2.6%.
       In terms of value, footwear exports in 2019 were worth US$146 billion, 2% more than in the previous year. This growth was driven mostly by Asian countries which increased their exports by 2.8%, while European growth was 1.2%. In other parts of the world this rate was lower or even negative.
       "China was the source of almost 2 out of every 3 pairs of shoes exported in 2019, but its market share has been steadily declining over the last decade," the report says. "Since 2010 China has lost 7 percentage points. Moving in the opposite direction, Vietnam has almost doubled its market share over the same period. India and Turkey have also shown remarkable performances throughout the decade.
       "The steep increase in the importance of textile footwear has been the most remarkable feature of the evolution of international footwear trade over the last decade. Textile footwear now represents roughly one third of all footwear trade, up from 14.6% in 2010 (value). Both rubber & plastic and leather footwear lost share to textile. Nonetheless, rubber & plastic footwear still represents almost half (47.5%) of the volume of all footwear exported worldwide and leather footwear represents 38.8% of its value."

Local manufacturing stable last year

Durban, KZN, SA  – South African footwear manufacturers produced 56.9 million pairs in 2019 - almost identical to the 2018 figures - according to SAFLIA's Footstats 2019, which was published last week. Employment was also almost identical, at 10 622. The value of sales by manufacturers grew from R5.7 billion to R6.3 billion.
       By comparison, imports dropped from 211.1 million to 199 million pairs, although the value climbed from R11.9 billion to R12.4 billion.
       Exports declined for the second year, from 3.9 million (the updated figure) to 3.5 million pairs, but grew in value from R362 million (updated) to R392 million.
       In local production, synthetic upper footwear accounted for 22.8 million pairs, leather uppers for 18.4 million pairs, slippers and wholly moulded footwear for 9.9 million pairs, fabric uppers for 2.8 million pairs and miscellaneous for 2.6 million pairs. The country produced 321 100 pairs of leather-soled footwear.
       Men's and boys' footwear accounted for 23.5 million pairs, 11.6 million of those with leather uppers. The comparative figures for women and girls were 23 million and 4.2 million, and for children and infants 10.3 million and 2.4 million.
       KZN's - and specifically Durban's - dominance continued, contributing 43.7 million pairs of the total. Northern Areas - mainly Gauteng - contributed 7.3 million pairs, the Western Cape 3.7 and the Eastern Cape 2.1 million pairs.
       Most women's and girls' footwear - 17.1 million of 23 million - and children's and infants' footwear 6.8 million of 10.3 million - is made in Durban, indicating the shift of manufacturing from Pinetown and Pietermaritzburg to Chatsworth and surrounding areas.
       Men's and boys' footwear was more evening spread - 6.7 million in the Northern Areas, 5.6 million in KZN rural areas, 3.9 million in Durban, 3.3 million in Pinetown, and 2.4 million in the Western Cape.
       In tender work, Dick Whittington Shoes in Pietermaritzburg won 129 000 of the 139 000 awarded in the shrinking government tender sector.
       "All-in-all, local manufacturers did commendably well last year," SAFLIA executive director Jirka Vymetal said. "They grew their share against imports, which we will obviously strive to continue. They also continued to employ people, which again is something we hope will grow. The only two areas which disappointed and concerned me were the government tenders, which continues to shrink, and exports, where we should be making bigger inroads into the rest of Africa, at least. The time, effort and resources used aren't paying dividends. We export about the same as we did 6 years ago, when there wasn't a dedicated team to drive this. Clearly something is wrong.
       "This year's figures will be significantly down on last year. We'll have to fight for every pair, and take away as much business as we can from importers."

They Said It

"I forgot to mention that with the abacus there was a fall-back position. Ten fingers and ten toes. Now I only have one brain and no fall-back except you.  Eureka, success at last.  I managed to download the correct issue after about 50 attempts." - Retired former director of the Leather Institute of Zimbabwe, Bev Jack, on his problems with technology. He claims that when he went to school, they were still using the abacus (look it up, children). Believe me, he protests too much.

"We like pressure. Deadline tomorrow, material today." - Natashia Singh, Palm Footwear, on why working with her can be a heart-in-mouth experience. She was joking, I think.

"I just drink more slowly...put more ice blocks in it." - Gary Brink, Selective International Footwear. You have to have a sense of humour to live under this Government and its rules.

Got anything you'd like to share?

Do you have any suggestions, comments or experiences about the lockdown that you'd like to share with the industry? We will publish the throughout the lockdown, so please let us know. - tony@svmag.co.za

Exchange rates

1. SA Rand (ZAR)

Source: http://www.x-rates.com/calculator/

ABSA Agri Trends: Hides & skins prices

Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA (July 28, 2020) - The current average hide price decreased by 10.7% to R0.61/kg from R0.68/kg green a week ago. The current price is 12.3% lower than the average price a month ago and is 64.4% lower than the average price a year ago. The hide market has unfortunately not eased over the past few months. Prices are almost zero (across the board) with absolutely no demand and no expectation for any changes ahead. Globally and locally, hide prices remain subdued due to the struggling automotive and manufacturing industries, demand is at very low levels. The local hide industry is expected to remain under pressure for the next few months. NB* Hide prices are determined as the average of the RMAA (Red Meat Abattoir Association) prices and prices of independent companies. - Abrie Rautenbach, head Absa agribusiness, and Conce Moraba, agricultural economist, Absa group.

03/08/1941: Rolf Haesloop, retired, formerly Haesloop Agencies, Pinetown.
03/08/1972: Fazel Allie, Arma Trading, Botswana.
03/08/1928: Gerry Elder, retired, Cape Town.
05/08/1933: Roberto Marchesi, designer, Cape Town.
05/08/1943: Barry Selby, The Athlete’s Foot, Cape Town.
05/08/1953: Iqbal Moosa, Jumbo Footwear, Pietermaritzburg.
05/08/1956: Rafiq Shah, Evoné, Pietermaritzburg.
05/08/1964: Christo Nel, Conloo Joinery, Welkom.
05/08/1979: Deepesh Ghela, National Adhesive Manufacturers, Pietermaritzburg.
06/08/1953: Naren Pattundeen, Palm group, Durban.
06/08/1951: Marius Ferreira, retired, formerly Bolton Footwear, Great Brak River.
06/08/1942: Mahomed Farouk Moosa Seedat, Same Time Shoe Repairs, Durban.
06/08/1959: Mano Chetty, Borage Trading, Pinetown.
08/08/1950: Eldon Fortmann, retired, formerly Bagshaw, Port Elizabeth.
08/08/1953: Doug Hawkey, John Whittle Components, Pinetown.
08/08/1986: PG Needham, Needham Leather Goods, Pretoria.

In Memoriam this week

03/08/1999: Otto Guldimann (b. 2/10/1922), Cellini [closed], Cape Town.
03/08/1992: Malcolm Kueghn, Hi-Tec Sports, Johannesburg.
03/08/2007: Noel Amery (b. 05/09/1944), Clarens Leather [closed], Clarens.
04/08/2006: Peter Gibbings (b. 31/01/1922), Apeco, Port Elizabeth.
05/08/2002: Darryl Austin (b. 21/02/1947), Austin Shoes, Karmino Shoes [both closed], Pietermaritzburg.
06/08/2012: Bob Johnsen (b. ?), footwear designer, Durban.
08/08/2010: Gareth Davies [b. 02/04/1945], Edgars group, retired, Johannesburg.
08/08/2019: Ben Cartoon (b. 08/10/1946), Paris Belts, Johannesburg.
09/08/2013: Daniël Bruwer (Stoffel) Matthis (b. 04/05/1934), SHALC and many meat industry bodies, Pretoria.

Have you let us know about your birthday, or the birthdays of your colleagues? Our readers love this section, so please become part of it. This also applies to the In Memoriam section. Help us remember former colleagues.

Have a look at these links

We invite businesses to send us links to websites, Facebook pages and the like which they feel would be of interest to others. The links below are from our database:
Choice Clothing/Big Daddy, Cape Town, W. Cape, SA. Chain family outfitter.
Chommies, Vereeniging, Gauteng, SA. Men's outfitter.

Classified Adverts

QA/Footwear Technologist Position sought

Former Jordan Shoes/Bolton Footwear staff member Neil Solomons seeks a position in QA for a manufacturer or Footwear Technologist for a retailer. I was with Jordan/Bolton for 36 years, and served as senior QA manager for local and imported product, travelling to China and India to inspect and approve factories and product. I also have experience in purchasing and H&S. I serve as a specialist on the SABS TC216 Footwear Technical Committee.

Please contact: 083 679 6233, neilsolomons15@gmail.com

Contact us

News & Classifieds: Tony Dickson, +27 (0)31 209 7505, tony@svmag.co.za

Next newsletter: August 10, 2020.

SAFLIA enquiries: Tel 0800SAFLIA * Email info@saflia.co.za * Website http://www.saflia.co.za

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