Brazilian footwear exporters, which had a historic increase in shipments in 2022 (142 million pairs and US$ 1.3 billion in foreign currency, the best result in 12 years), chose their target markets for the next biennium. The targets are chosen at each renewal of the agreement of the Brazilian Footwear Industries Association (Abicalçados) with the Brazilian Agency for the Promotion of Exports and Investments (ApexBrasil), entities that maintain the Brazilian Footwear, internationalization program of the footwear sector.

For the 2024/2025 biennium, the choice took place in a virtual meeting on February 28th and was attended by representatives of Abicalçados, ApexBrasil and entrepreneurs of all sizes, segments, states and exporting maturities, associated with Brazilian Footwear. “This is a careful choice, thoroughly planned by the market intelligence departments of Abicalçados and ApexBrasil, which put the main markets of each continent to vote among the participating entrepreneurs,” explains Abicalçados' Project Manager, Letícia Sperb Masselli. The chosen target markets should be impacted by commercial and image actions of the export program for the next biennium. Within the scope of the project, which subsidizes physical and digital internationalization actions, are international fairs, trade missions, virtual platforms for connecting with foreign buyers, training for exports, image promotion initiatives with influencers, promotion of the Sustainable Origin Program, among other initiatives. "Brazilian Footwear has, today, about 300 associated companies that account for almost 80% of the total generated by Brazilian footwear exports. They are in different stages of internationalization, and the choice of markets takes into account the different strategies for opening, maintaining and expanding shipments in different countries”, adds Leticia.

Opportunity
For the manager of Brazilian Footwear at ApexBrasil, Mariele Christ, the democratic nature of the selection of markets, which takes into account the experiences of the companies themselves, is a differential of the process, as it makes the choice more assertive. “The exercise and the methodology for the selection is interesting, because it is the companies themselves that map commercial opportunities in countries in which they need the support of Brazilian Footwear, whether for opening, maintaining or expanding trade”, evaluates the manager, stressing that, prior to the selection, the companies answer a questionnaire with qualitative data on the countries. "We had as premise the geographical distribution, in order to cover all continents. We had two pleasant surprises, which were the markets of Australia - as a secondary, for observation-and Angola, where there is already an opening for our footwear and growth potential.”

Selected
After almost two hours of discussion, the priority target markets of the United States, Colombia, Chile, United Arab Emirates, Germany and Angola were chosen. The secondary target markets, which will be worked on for understanding and prospecting for future actions during the biennium, will be Saudi Arabia and Australia.

Get to know the selected priority markets:

United States
Elected for market consolidation, the United States is, historically, the main destination for Brazilian footwear abroad. Last year, according to data prepared by Abicalçados, 17.84 million pairs were shipped there, which generated US$ 334.6 million, an increase of 17.7% in volume and 46.4% compared to 2021.

The Market Intelligence Coordinator at Abicalçados, Priscila Linck, explains that, despite being the main destination for exports in the sector, Brazil has only 1% of the market share of imports from that country. “The United States is the largest importer in the world and has been paying more attention to suppliers outside Asia, mainly due to the requirements in sustainability and logistical proximity. In 2019, Chinese footwear imports accounted for almost 50% of the market share, a figure that fell to 39% last year. It is a market with great possibilities for our product”, highlights Priscila.

Colombia
Having dropped three positions in the ranking of destinations for Brazilian footwear abroad (from 5th to 8th destination), Colombia is considered a relevant market for Brazilian footwear, especially for companies that are less advanced in the export process. According to Priscila, Brazil represents almost 10% of total footwear imports from that country and has the potential to grow even more due to its geographical proximity, which facilitates logistics, and cultural proximity. In 2022, exports of yellow-green shoes there totaled 10.22 million pairs, which generated US$ 43.8 million, a 3.4% decrease in volume and a 29% increase in revenue compared to 2021.

Chile
Aiming at the strategic opening of the Chilean market, Brazilian Footwear will bet on that market for the next period. According to a survey by Abicalçados Market Intelligence, Brazil accounts for only 3.4% of the country's footwear imports. "Despite this, in Latin America, Chile is our fourth main destination and imports a lot of higher value-added products (35% is leather),” says Priscila. Last year, 3.64 million pairs were shipped there, which generated US$ 49.6 million, high in both volume (+24.8%) and revenue (+52.5%) compared to 2021.

United Arab Emirates
Considered strategic for being a re-exporter to other Arab countries, the United Arab Emirates has great market potential for Brazil, which today accounts for only 0.3% of the country's footwear imports. The high average price of footwear consumed there (US$ 66.30) is another attraction for exports. In 2022, 1 million yellow-green pairs were exported there, which generated US$ 9 million, higher results in both volume (+4.6%) and revenue (+34.6%) compared to 2021.

Germany 
Accounting for 20% of footwear consumption in western Europe, Germany is the world's leading importer in the Old Continent and the second largest in the world (US$ 12 billion in imports in 2021). ”On the other hand, Brazil represents only 0.1% of the sector's total imports, which denotes great potential for growth, " explains Priscila. Last year, the Brazilian Footwear Industry shipped 1.47 million pairs there, which generated US$ 10.1 million, higher results in both volume (113.2%) and revenue (+45.8%) compared to 2021.

Angola
The main African market for Brazilian footwear, Angola, in addition to being strategic for expansion on the continent, has 32% of its imports in the sector from Brazil. "In the ranking of Angolan imports, Brazil is only behind China. The projection for footwear consumption in the country is of a 2% per year growth until 2024, so there is room for the expansion of Brazilian exports to this destination”, comments Priscila. The thirteenth main destination for Brazilian footwear abroad, Angola imported, in 2022, 5 million green-yellow pairs, which generated US$ 19 million, increases in both volume (+37%) and revenue (+41.4%) compared to 2021.