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In 2005, German shoe and leather machine construction technologies worth Euro 40.7 million were shipped to over 100 countries all over the world. This makes it one of the highest-exporting subsectors of the Federal Republic of Germany’s machinery and plant construction industry. Traditionally, companies from Europe and Asia are the industry’s biggest customers.
The development of exports among German suppliers of technology for the production of leather, shoes and leather goods was also affected in 2005 by tough competition with machine manufacturers from Europe and Asia. The German shoe and leather machinery construction industry thus had to once again accept a drop in its export business. Exports fell in 2005 by just under 8 per cent to Euro 40.7 million. There is no turnaround in this trend expected in the classical leather, shoes and leather goods production sector for 2006, either.
One opportunity for German machine manufacturers comes from the myriad possibilities for positioning the technologies used in the manufacture of leather, shoes and leather goods in the production workflows of automobile accessories, upholstery, filters and medical technologies. Added to this is the hope that people will in future place more value on higher-quality leather goods and that the inundation of the European market with cheap products from Asia will diminish. The industry’s development over the next few years will be shaped considerably by these factors.
The German machine manufacturers, thanks to their many years of experience, provide the ideal conditions for satisfying individual technology requirements in the various product sectors. The high standard of technology in the Federal Republic of Germany is complemented by the reliability and on-time delivery of services and spare parts supplies.
Modern German production technologies featuring sophisticated microelectronics, control and troubleshooting and of course also standard technologies can be integrated perfectly into production workflows, thereby offering customers the ideal platform to jump ahead of the competition. The integration of new technologies ensures that growing and constantly-changing customer requirements can be satisfied.
Italy (10.1 per cent), Hong Kong (5.3 per cent), People’s Republic of China (5.2 per cent), Russia (3.5 per cent), France (3.4 per cent), Austria (3.3 per cent) and Romania (3.2 per cent) have all maintained their positions in the top ten countries which bought from Germany in 2005. Bosnia-Herzegovina (7.0 per cent), the United Kingdom (3.4 per cent) and Indonesia (3.6 per cent) have also risen up into this top ten. This means that just under half of German exports were shipped to just ten countries.
The massive surge in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the United Kingdom is probably due to major orders, with the result that these countries probably will not appear in the 2006 top ten. Indonesia, on the other hand, thanks to its growing shoe industry, has a strong chance of numbering among the top ten countries which buy from Germany. France, Hong Kong, Austria, Romania, Russia and the People’s Republic of China have been able to maintain their positions in the top ten, despite negative development. Of note is the fact that Hong Kong is a supplier country for the south of the People’s Republic of China. Italy, with a hefty increase of 25.5 per cent, has replaced the People’s Republic of China at the top of the table.
The most important markets for German machine manufacturers are traditionally in European industrial nations and Asian developing states. In 2005, the European share of total exports stood at 58.3 per cent. 37.5 per cent of this share was shipped to countries within the European Union (EU-25). The proportion of orders from Asian customers stood at 25.8 per cent.
There was stagnation in German exports to America (9.2 per cent). The main countries to place orders were Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay and the USA.
The already low levels of deliveries to Africa continued to fall further in 2005 by 11.5% to Euro 2.2 million. The most significant trading partners on the African continent were South Africa and Tunisia.
International retail is by no means a one-way street, however. The German shoe, leather and leather goods industry is also an interesting market for foreign machine and plant manufacturers. In 2005, production equipment for the manufacture of shoes, leather and leather goods worth Euro 11.6 million were imported. Italy, with a share of 49.8%, is the front-runner in the league table of supplier countries. Italy is followed by the People’s Republic of China (11.7 per cent), the Netherlands (10.4 per cent), France (6.8 per cent) and Russia (3.9 per cent). From these figures, more than 80 per cent of all German imports emanated from five countries.
In terms of global exports in 2005 (not including sewing machines for the shoe and leather good industry or shoe-moulding equipment), the German shoe and leather machinery construction industry was among the top 42 supplier countries, with a share of Euro 40.7 million putting it in 4th place. With an export volume of Euro 261.8 million, however, and despite a drop of 20.9 per cent, Italy topped the rankings of supplier countries, followed by Taiwan (Euro 85.9 million) and South Korea (Euro 64.7 million). Following a hefty increase (59.4 per cent) in 2005, the USA stood in 5th place with Euro 21.2 million. All in all, global exports in 2005 fell from Euro 636.6 million by 6.5 per cent to Euro 591.3 million.
19th January 2007