The Phnom Penh Post comments on the customs data of exports of shoes and components for footwear: the export of the sector in the first 9 months of this year amounts to 1.325 billion dollars, up 32.69% compared to 998.238 million last year. However, it signals a slowdown in new orders in the third quarter and also other difficulties in production that will affect exports in the coming months. Among the reasons, post-Covid-19 global inflation and the rise in oil prices. [Footwear exports may slip in Q4 - Phnom Penh Post]
The aforementioned category of items, corresponding to Chapter 64 of the harmonised tariff schedule, accounted for 7.67 per cent of the value of the Kingdom’s total exports over the period, or $17.258 billion, General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia (GDCE) statistics indicate.
In September alone, Chapter 64 exports were $141.815 million – up 35.58 per cent from $104.601 million in the same month of 2021 – accounting for 10.71 per cent of the nine-month total. On the other hand, the July-September quarter was relatively strong, representing 36.08 per cent of the nine-month total at $477.91 million, up 32.69 per cent year-on-year.
For comparison, the June, July and August figures were $144.568 million, $198.599 million and $137.497 million, respectively, up 19.15 per cent, 38.64 per cent and 22.42 per cent on a yearly basis.
Cambodia Footwear Association president Ly Kunthai told The Post on November 1 that the January-September Chapter 64 exports surged on the back of a steady stream of orders as countries around the world reopened and dialled back Covid-induced cross-border restrictions, especially in the first half of this year.
However, gloomy views of the market for footwear and other Chapter 64 items began to emerge in the third quarter, amid rising uncertainty surrounding global economic growth, the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, heightened oil and food prices, and Sino-US geopolitical disputes, he said.
“Orders have dropped significantly compared to the beginning of 2022.”
However, under an optimistic scenario where the ongoing wave of crises subsides to a considerable degree, Kunthai surmised that Cambodia’s network of buyers in major countries would “surely” step up orders again.
He commented that many prominent international brands such as Adidas, Clarks and Timberland manufacture their shoes in Cambodia, and that major markets for locally-made footwear include the US, Canada, the UK, Japan and other European and Asian countries.
Kunthai recently mentioned that there are about 70 footwear factories in the Kingdom – most of which are invested by entities from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan in the Greater China region, South Korea and Japan – and that most raw materials in making footwear are imported from mainland China, Vietnam and Thailand.
