Loss of competitiveness due to the increase in the price of energy, transport, raw materials and financing costs, but also the reduction in purchasing power and climate change and its impact on businesses, which do not sell the new season until the temperatures drop.
These are some of the reasons that explain the slowdown in production in the footwear industry, as indicated by the industrial production index of the Valencian Community for the month of September. The figure has fallen 3.2% compared to the previous year, two points above the national average after corrections, and places the Valencian Community in the fifth region from bottom, behind four other regions such as the Balearic Islands, La Rioja, Cantabria and Murcia. A total of 15 autonomous communities register negative annual variations in this general index.
And it is with a magnifying glass in hand by branches of activity, the most affected are the leather and footwear industry (-24.2%) and tile production (-19.1%). For the president of AVECAL, the Valencian association of footwear companies, Marián Cano, the main cause of the drop in production is the slowdown in consumption, “a consequence of the decrease in the disposable income of families due to inflation and the rise in rates. of interest and to this we must add other factors such as the consequences of the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis and the lack of supplies, in the case of some materials."
Meanwhile, the fall of the tile is continuous with respect to the situation that the sector has been denouncing for months. The September variation improves the August figures (then the monthly variation was -34.9%, mainly due to furnace shutdowns for maintenance), but these latest data showed that the shutdown has been greater, although in September there have been a reactivation.
However, the Ascer employers' association recognizes that a change in trend is not expected in the short term due to the drop in demand from the main export markets. And the trend continues to be one of decline, in parallel with the reduction in sales, as well as the drop in gas consumption in the industry. From the same association they explain that the export of the sector in the accumulated period from January to August 2023, and carried out to 187 countries, was 2,512.5 million euros with a drop of -17.9% compared to the same period in 2022.
Only Italy is saved from this fall of the countries that are part of the ranking of the top ten countries to which tile companies sell their products. Likewise, in volume (m2) exports for the period were -26.0% lower than in 2022. The figures still do not include the effect of the most recent war in Israel, the sixth largest tile market.
