S&V Weekly Newsletter Vol.10 No.22, May 27 2024

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Vote for change – please

The election is almost upon us. The polls aren’t very promising for change, but last month, in response to a question from S&V, Dodo’s Shoes group marketing director Kelli Kupritz wrote: “I hope everyone turns out to vote. If you think your vote doesn’t count, it does. People of South Africa deserve so much more and this is your chance – vote. If you don’t vote you have NO right to complain.”

Shipping from China: Problems as vessels ‘redirected to South America’

Durban, KZN, SA - The cost of sea freight from China to SA has risen, and has been compounded by a shortage of space, according to component suppliers in China.
      In an email today to upper material wholesaler A. Greenaways (Natal), a supplier in China wrote: “The goods are ready, but can’t catch a ship this week. We can ship it next week. But now sea freight is crazy high – it is about USD6000 for a 20ft container.”
      On 13 May, a supplier warned Greenaways: “Please be aware that the sea freight for next week’s vessel has risen to USD3250 per MSK 20' GP. COSCO will be USD3730 – the ship space is a bit cramped too.
“P.S. The freight costs for various shipping routes are skyrocketing. The cargo for our Peruvian clients, which previously cost less than 2000 for sea transport, is more than 5000 this week.”
On 22 May, the same supplier wrote: “I regret to inform you: this container was originally scheduled to be loaded in warehouse today, but last night the freight forwarder informed me that the shipping company refused to release our container due to insufficient space... The freight forwarder is helping us find new space today, but the shipping schedule is still uncertain... Moreover, the price will also be a big problem, prices are rising every day now, and there's no guarantee [that there will be space]. This will have a significant impact on the subsequent shipment of goods, and it may be difficult to improve in the short term.”
The reason for the shortage of space and the rise in prices was because Chinese companies were diverting shipping to South America, he wrote.
“The recent increase in shipping costs may be related to the following reasons. The price increase on all routes this time mainly started from South America. The reason for the price increase in South America is primarily due to Brazil imposing additional tariffs on new energy vehicles from China after July. New energy vehicle companies are accelerating the export of vehicles to South America. In addition, the United States has announced future additional tariffs on China, leading to some Chinese companies increasing their investment in South America. Shipping companies are facing a significant shortage of capacity, causing some African routes to be redirected to South America, resulting in a lack of capacity in Africa and a general increase in shipping costs. Another major factor is that shipping companies intentionally reduce ship capacity, the insufficient number of available seats has led to a significant increase in prices.”

Wage negotiations: Footwear – no settlement

Durban, KZN, SA - The parties to the Footwear Negotiations could not reach agreement as their respective mandates were exhausted, Gerald Naidoo, general secretary of the National Bargaining Council of the Leather Industry of SA, said on Friday. The parties will go back to their constituencies for revised mandates and will meet again in June. The proposed dates for the next meeting are 6 and 7 June.

VF Corporation global results remain poor, but 2 of its brands doing well in SA

International apparel group VF Corporation announced its 4th quarter results on 22 May. Its 4 biggest brands, by revenue, were all down on 2023 figures.
      The worst performer was its second biggest brand (by revenue), Vans, which was 27% down for the quarter and 25% down for the 12 months.
Its 4th and 5th biggest brands, Timberland and Dickies, were down 14% and 15% respectively, both for the quarter and the full year.
Its biggest brand, The North Face, was down 5% and 1% respectively.
Its ‘other brands’, Altra, Eastpak, Icebreaker, JanSport, Kipling, Napapijri, Smartwool, and Supreme, were down 2% for the quarter and were even for the year.
The North Face is distributed in SA by Sector Apparel, Vans by Zeus Brands, Timberland by Timberland SA, Dickies by Skye Distribution, and Kipling by FrontierCo.
On Friday, we emailed each asking whether sales of their VF brand had declined in SA by the same sort of percentage as was reported by VF Corporation.
Gary Green of Sector and Kennith Barlow of FrontierCo responded.
      Green wrote: “The two brands that appear to be most affected are Vans and Timberland. In respect to The North Face, the information being shared with us by our brand principals is that while there has been a decline in US revenue, as has been the case with many brands due to sluggish US demand, European sales remain relatively flat, Asia continues to show positive growth, and aggressive expansion plans are underway in the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia. In South Africa, the brand continues its upward trajectory. 2023 sales revenue reflects 46% growth on the comparative 2022 period. While we are not anticipating the same level of growth into 2024, we are still projecting double digit growth off the back of the forward order book in our wholesale operations, the launch of our new dedicated e-commerce platform, and the roll out of two additional TNF concept stores.”
      Barlow wrote: “Kipling, retailed and distributed by FrontierCo, has shown a fantastic double-digit growth for the calendar year so far, bucking the local retail and their international trends. It is a premium brand driven by newness and design, which the market responds well to. We are very pleased with the brand to date, although it is coming off a relatively small base and is still establishing itself in the South African market.”

Summary Revenue Information (Unaudited)

They Said It

"This is the second time you have moved Bronkhorstspruit into Mpumalanga; we are in Gauteng. You are playing like the Government." - Len Crozier, retired, formerly with Clariant and TST Agencies, who lives in Bronkhorstspruit, GAUTENG, SA, NOT Mpumalanga, which is what I wrote in last week’s They Said It, and which I did once before, long, long ago. The biggest sin in journalism is to misspell someone’s name. Clearly giving the wrong address isn’t far behind.

Got anything you'd like to share?

Do you have any suggestions, comments or experiences about the industry that you'd like to share with the industry? - tony@svmag.co.za

New subscribers last week

Saajid, Business Owner, Shoe Shack, Tshwane, Gauteng, South Africa

Birthdays this week

27/05/1944: Richard Bunyard left the industry, formerly GW Cowie & Co, Durban, KZN, SA.
27/05/1969: Dean Tharman, Ten Digits, George, W. Cape, SA.
28/05/1958: Brigitte Davidow, Nakara, Windhoek, Namibia.
29/05/1964: Bevan Lamb left the industry, formerly Waye Rubber, Palmer Rubber and Egoli Gumboots (all closed), Amanzimtoti, KZN, SA.
29/05/1966: Prakash Chapaner, KG Chapaner & Co, Gweru, Zimbabwe.
29/05/1980: Andrew Lang, Rolfes Chemicals, Germiston, Gauteng SA.
29/05/1983: Ismail Kajee, Favourite Sports, Newcastle, KZN, SA.
29/05/1987: Saahir Bhamjee, Sbzee Global Trading, Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA.
30/05/1940: Subramonia Balakrishnan, Malar Industries, Ndola, Zambia.
31/05/1951: James Stewart, Tokyo+Co, Cape Town, W. Cape, SA.
31/05/1959: Mike Ing, The Ing Thing, Howick, KZN, SA.
31/05/1963: Craig Davis, Spunlok, Pinetown, KZN, SA.
31/05/1972: Calay Grecia, Classic Components, Pinetown, KZN, SA.
01/06/1942: Chris Horne, The Little Slipper Company, Port Elizabeth, E. Cape, SA.
02/06/1946: Freddy Pillay, ?, formerly East Coast Shoes, Chatsworth [closed].
02/06/1947: Anver Carrim, Colam Trading cc t/a Yankees, Rustenburg, N.W. Province, SA.
02/06/1975: Shaun Ganesh, Nikkita Footwear, Durban, KZN, SA.
02/06/1983: Jana van Vuuren, Maraschino Shoes, Pretoria, Gauteng, SA.

In memoriam this week

27/05/2002: Stan Austin (b. 28/11/1915), Austin Shoes (closed), Pietermaritzburg, KZN, SA.
28/05/2011: Charles Chavkin (b. 20/03/1930), Charles Chavkin Agencies, Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA.
01/06/1992: Harry Gassert, formerly Panther Shoe Co [closed], Cape Town, W. Cape, SA.
01/06/2021: Rajeev 'Rocky' Kumar (b. 03/08/1967), Vision Sports, Gaborone, Botswana.

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.

Directory entries updated this week

Ghëla Dayaram & Sons, Pietermaritzburg, KZN, SA.
Summerhill Trading, Port Elizabeth, E. Cape, SA.
Supplycor cc, Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA.

3. Malawian Kwacha (MWK) (buying)

Source: https://www.rbm.mw/

4. Zambian Kwacha (ZMW) (buying)

Source: https://www.boz.zm/

5. Zimbabwe Dollar (ZWL$) (average) / Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG)

Source: Source: https://www.rbz.co.zw/

Note: For previous rates, see HERE

ABSA Agri Trends: Hides & skins prices

Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA (23 May 2024) - The average hide price increased by 0.7% to 3.10/kg from R3.07/kg a week ago. The current price is 0.3% lower than the average price a month ago and 11.3% lower than the average price a year ago. The range of prices reported was as follows: Minimum price: R3.00 Maximum price: R3.25. Price movements will be highly influenced by developments in the status of our animal diseases. Please note: Our methodology weighs the prices we collect according to the number of hides they sell in a month. This is done to make it more representative of the prevailing market price. NB* Hide prices are determined by the average of the RMAA (Red Meat Abattoir Association) and independent companies. - Marlene Louw, senior agricultural economist, and Nkhensani Mashimbyi, agricultural economist, and Zama Sangweni, agricultural economist, Absa group.

Note: For previous prices, see HERE

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:

Supplycor cc, Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA. PPE reseller.
Surf Action, Margate, KZN, SA. Surf retailer.

THIS WEEK LAST YEAR!

SA chains were awaiting AfCFTA clothing and textile rules of origin decisions.

Proudly SA announced the launch of a campaign to encourage buying of local products.

Garth Ribbink provided insight into rising material prices.

READ IT HERE - S&V WEEKLY NEWSLETTER VOL.9 NO.22, MAY 29 2023

THIS WEEK FIVE YEARS AGO!!

5 Retailers once again provided mixed feedback for the previous weeks trading.

TFG results showed apparel turnover up nearly 24%.

SACTWU 'threatened' AVI over Green Cross acquisition.

Grant Hansen, sales director, leather, at Apeco, announced his leaving to join Fusion Leather.

Brett van Rooyen joined Apeco as sales manager.

The death of Theo Heffer was reported.

READ IT HERE - S&V WEEKLY NEWSLETTER VOL.5 NO.21, MAY 27, 2019

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

Next newsletter: June 03, 2024. Ad and editorial deadline Friday 31 May.

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