US Footwear Imports Step up; Vietnam, Indonesia Step Forward

by | Jul 16, 2014 | Imports, Trade Data

After stumbling earlier this year, US footwear imports stepped up in May, continuing a positive growth that began in April, the trade data shows.

US Footwear Imports Month by Month 2013-May2014 LINE GRAPH

While China remains the leading country of origin, it continues to cede share to Vietnam as shoemaking shifts to lower-cost production centers – a long-term trend that got a boost from strikes that shut down factories in China this spring and prompted brands such as Adidas to move orders from Chinese sources (as reported by Bloomberg).

The pie chart below shows Italy and Indonesia each taking 5% share … but take a close look at the line graph above and you’ll see Italy and Indonesia engaged in a pas de deux for third place, with Indonesia edging out Italy in January, March and April of this year.

US Footwear Imports COO Share 2009 vs 2014 PIECaution: The increase in imports may be cause for optimism – or it may be the result of shippers pushing out orders ahead of potential labor disruptions at West Coast ports. Our US import bill-of-lading data does indicate the volume of inbound shipments of footwear continued to rise in June. We’ll keep tracking and sharing the data.

If you would like to see more trade data on footwear – or any other product category – just ask us.

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