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UGANDA Uganda’s leather industry is still in its infancy stage of development with over 90% of leather products imported, despite the potential in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) region.

In the last five years, there are no reports of leather exports. This has led to the dominance of shoe imports on the market. Statistics from the leather tanning industry show that Uganda produces only one million pairs of shoes annually which are consumed locally, while 24 million are imported, mainly from Italy, China and Europe.

PERU Industry sources in Peru have said the country’s footwear exports to southern neighbour Chile for this year could achieve a value in excess of $3.3 million, which would represent a 30% increase on the figure for 2010. The figures come from the Lima Footwear Association. Peru’s footwear industry experienced a substantial jump in exports to Chile in 2010, with a value of $2.6 million compared to only $228,000 in 2009. In the first five months of 2011, exports to Chile were worth $1.5 million, which is 19% more than in the same period last year.

PAKISTAN The Khyber Pakthunkhwa provincial government in Pakistan is planning to build a leather hub in the town of Charsadda. “Charsadda is famous for shoemaking and a large number of local artisans are associated with a leather industry that needs to be encouraged on modern lines to take full advantage of their potential,” an official of the Industry Department said.

TUNISIA Leather and footwear exports in Tunisia increased by 16.8% between 2010-2011 (the first five months), going up from $279 million to $326 million, according to statistics from the National Leather and Footwear Centre. The country’s customers in the footwear sector are mainly Italy, France and Germany, totalling 87.4% of exports.

ITALY Italy’s official statistics agency ISTAT has reported that sales of leathergoods in the country rose by 5.7% in April compared to the previous month. There was also a small rise in sales of footwear. In spite of the fact that the increase in footwear sales was only 0.8%, industry observers have taken encouragement from the figure. May is traditionally a strong month for shoe sales in Italy as consumers respond to new collections in the shops and prepare for the summer. However, this traditional sales pattern did not occur in the years 2008-2010.

SPAIN Spain’s footwear retail market declined by 3% in 2010 compared to the year before, achieving a value of € 2.9 billion. The figures come from a new market study published by market research group DBK España, part of the Dun & Bradstreet Group. DBK said footwear retail chains and non-specialist outlets such as major supermarkets and department stores had gained market share in recent years, while independent footwear retailers’ share of the market has declined.

DBK said it was expecting a small increase in the size of the market in 2011, putting the projected figure at 0.5%. Its prediction was that retail chains could grow their sales by 4% in 2011, with the market share of independent shoe stores continuing to decline.