The leather footwear sector in Guanajuato is recovering, but with percentages below 15% before Covid. Despite the return to the classroom in schools, children's shoe factories are one of the most backward, even with levels 40% lower than before the coronavirus. The president of CICEG (Cámara de la Industria del Calzado), Alejandro Gómez Tamez, told Zona Franca that among the negative factors the main one is the lack of imported supplies.
"Yes, there is a recovery, although the largest number of children's footwear product lines is still 40% below the pre-pandemic level; If there has been a recovery, it has been very slow and we have a long way to go to recover," the president said.
The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) has published an update on the behaviour of the industry in the country, which shows the decline in leather and footwear.
The comparison shows that between March last year and this year the difference is 5.1 points smaller.
"It is a set of factors, imports have increased, unfortunately we are witnessing record levels of historical imports, on the other hand the recovery has been made difficult, there is a shortage of materials and much of the recovery of the market is to the benefit of imports instead of the domestic industry", explained the president.
Among the missing offer there is the synthetic and there are the soles; even if there are suppliers, the problem is the time of deliveries.
"They make the sole for you, but it takes six months and this is where there is a major need for foreign investment from Chinese factories that could produce these components in Mexico," Tamez added.
Other missing materials are polyurethanes which, due to the outbreaks of covid.19 in China, have made it difficult for the arrivals of orders issued.
