Footwear companies step up

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Unlike a bleak 2009, local footwear export firms are running at full capacity for rising export orders in 2011.

Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso) chairman Nguyen Duc Thuan said Sao Vang, Dinh Vang, Dong Hung or Truong Loi footwear companies were especially making hay while the sun shined.

Soaring labour and production costs in China - the world’s leading footwear exporter – had seen a orders flow to Vietnam.

Besides, since local footwear firms have established a solid reputation in the world market, said Thuan.

Haiphong-based Dinh Vang Company Limited general director assistant Dao Xuan Long said  the firm raked in $82.5 million from exports in the year ending September, a 132 per cent jump against August 2010.

Parallel to rising exports to the EU market as it removed anti-dumping tariffs for made-in-Vietnam upper-leather shoes, Dinh Vang is expanding exports to South Korea, Japan and some countries in Asia-Pacific.

The company was confident it was within reach to fulfill 2011’s export target of $108 million, said Long.

Lien Phat Footwear Company’s director Tran Ngoc Lien said the firm inked export contracts for 2011 with traditional customers.

“We have opened many more branches in rural and remote areas to take advantage of a vast labour pool in these areas,” said Lien.

Thuan believed the footwear sector was in a position to fully achieve the year’s $6 billion target with many firms about to negotiate next year’s orders.

However, firms are concerned the minimum salary hike starting from October 1, 2011 would drive up costs.

The footwear sector reaped $4.8 billion from export in the first nine months of 2011, surging 30 per cent on-year. Of this, export figure from June until present mounted to $580-$640 million per month.