JavaScript is disabled! Why you want to do so? Please enable JavaScript in your web browser!
The data compiled by Médias24, based on monthly indicators of foreign trade provided by the Foreign Exchange Office (textile sector), shows that Moroccan footwear exports are experiencing their worst year since the Covid-19.
At the end of August 2024, Moroccan clothing exports continued to decline compared to the same period in 2023, with a loss of 232 million dirhams in value. Shoes suffered from the majority of the decline (-220 MDH), recording a decline of 10% in value. The decline was, fortunately, offset by the increase in sales of ready-made clothing (+142MDH).
Médias24 contacted two major players in the sector.
An almost non-existent tannery ecosystem
Pour Azzedine Jettoupresident of the Federation of Leather Industriesthe decline in the attractiveness of Moroccan shoes for export is mainly due to the ecosystem tannery national almost non-existent. As a result, the Moroccan leather sector, a noble raw material used in the manufacture of shoes, will lose its interest.
“There is a serious problem. The Moroccan tannery ecosystem almost no longer exists. The upstream sector is now content with the production of semi-finished leather. The latter is shipped to Europe for finalization of production. Order givers, such as Zara or Massimo Duttiare then forced to import all the materials and accessories to be able to manufacture in Morocco. The absence of a tannery ecosystem has even pushed some shoe companies like Italian Geox– to leave Morocco”, laments Azzedine Jettou.
“The Moroccan domestic market for leather shoes is now in sharp decline due to global inflation. The leather item is therefore no longer in demand. The Moroccan leather shoe has therefore been replaced by the synthetic, both in import and in local production and which today concentrates 90 to 95% of sales. Synthetic shoes also respond to Moroccan purchasing power. These are accessible products that do not exceed the 200 DH“, he explains.
A trend on which the Jettou group also surfed. Noting the decline in the attractiveness of Moroccan leather shoes over the last ten years, this family group, although a traditional craftsman of leather shoes, in turn moved away from leather, launching into synthetic shoes after its association with the Turkish giant Flo.
Waiting for the new Ain Cheggag industrial zone
What has been done and what should be done to revitalize the textile industry, and Moroccan shoes in particular, a category threatened more than others?
The president of the Federation of Leather Industries answers us: “The new industrial zone Ain Cheggag (province of Sefrou, region of Fez-Meknes) is eagerly awaited by shoe manufacturers to revitalize the tannery ecosystem. Built on a total area of 85 ha including 50 ha dedicated to leather activities, this new generation zone equipped with a wastewater treatment plant will give new impetus to the Moroccan leather sector. The progress rate of the work today is 70%“.
LVMH invests 20 million euros in a tannery in Marrakech
“A partnership will also be signed, on the occasion of the National Industry Daywith the automotive and chemical sectors in anticipation of the completion of the Ain Cheggag industrial zone. This partnership will allow horizontal integration of processed Moroccan leather, so that it can be exploited by producers in search of finished products. Gone are the days when foreign investors were only interested in our workforce. Today, they are looking for a complete ecosystem, such as that of the automobile industry or aeronautics, which display significant integration rates.”
“Other measures have been initiated auguring a better future for the Moroccan tannery. LVMH (luxury giant which owns, among other things, the brands Louis Vuitton, Dior, Tiffany ou Moët & Chandon) who is going to set up a tannery in Marrakech. The project is in progress. This is an investment of 20 million eurosin partnership with a large Italian group. In addition, the State has decided to set up around a hundred modern and mechanical slaughterhouses to prevent animal skin from being damaged by knives.
Do you have a real estate project in mind? Yakeey & Médias24 help you make it happen!
© Media24. Any reproduction prohibited, in any form whatsoever, without written authorization from the Société des Nouveaux Médias. This content is protected by law and in particular law 88-13 relating to the press and publishing as well as laws 66.19 and 2-00 relating to copyright and related rights.
Basma Khirchi
October 5, 2024 at 12:00 p.m.
Modified October 5, 2024 at 4:30 p.m.
