India thwarts Turkey's plans to become Europe's shoe manufacturing hub
01.02.2023 4538

India thwarts Turkey's plans to become Europe's shoe manufacturing hub

On the eve of the start of the second largest international footwear exhibition Aymod, which will be held in Istanbul from February 1 to 4, Berke Ichten, the head of the Turkish Footwear Association TASD, outlined the critical moments in the development of the Turkish shoe industry, writes hurriyet.com.tr.

A difficult moment for the development of the shoe industry in Turkey, Berke Ichten called competition from Indian factories, which today outperform Turkish manufacturers in terms of price.

“We hear that big shoe chains are canceling their orders in the domestic market and moving their orders to Portugal and India because they are cheaper, instead of buying shoes in Turkish Konya or Gaziantep,” he said.

The head of TASD noted that the recent increase in shoe imports to Turkey is associated with high inflation in the country. However, noting that the increase in prices for the same product in dollar terms amounted to approximately 40% compared to the previous year. Speaking to shoe factories, Ichten said: “European buyers say that annual inflation in our country has also increased. We accept a 15% price difference, but when it comes to 40%, it's a 25% difference." He does not consider this acceptable.

According to him, before the difference in the price for the production of footwear between Turkey and India was 5-6 dollars, now India gives the minimum price for re-entering the market, and the difference has increased to 10-11 dollars. “They went down, we went up. The European client is already talking about returning to India again,” he warned.

Berke Itchten also pointed out that Turkey has the second largest counterfeit market in the world and said that at least 150-200 million pairs of shoes are produced this way every year. He believes that counterfeit products mainly harm domestic companies in the branding process, and sees a way out of the situation in bringing the level of production of Turkish factories to "allowing them to produce original products and contribute to the legal economy." In his opinion, the goal of Turkish industries should be to offer the production of a finished branded product for world and foreign brands.

In the past two years, the Turkish footwear industry has developed very actively, against the backdrop of quarantine restrictions in China and other Asian countries, as well as problems with logistics. In 2022, Turkey set another record for the export of shoes, the volume of which exceeded $11 billion in just 1,1 months of the year. It should also be noted that in 2023 Turkey is preparing to host the World Shoe Congress, with which it has high hopes for being approved as one of the largest international shoe manufacturers.

Marina Shumilina

The head of the Turkish Association of Shoe Manufacturers TASD, Berke Ichten, on the eve of the start of the second largest international shoe exhibition Aymod, which will be held in Istanbul from February 1 to 4,…
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