5 Fast Footwear Import Insights
Current Data Released is for December 2020

1.  The volume of US footwear imports fell a year-over-year -13.4% in December, the ninth double-digit decrease in the last eleven months and sixteenth straight drop since Trump tariff hikes against footwear from China went into effect in September 2019.

2. Shipments in this latest month sank to just 163.5 million pairs, the lowest December in nine years.

3. With the December tumble, full-year footwear imports sank -18.5% in volume terms and -22.6% in value terms, the steepest annual declines on record.

4. Full-year footwear imports were sharply lower across all key categories—Athletic, Bootwear, Men’s, Women’s, Children’s, Leather, & Sandals.

5. Among America’s eight largest foreign suppliers of footwear—accounting for 96.7% of imports—shipments in 2020 only rose from Cambodia, up 17.0%.

Be sure to click on any of the reports below to see full breakouts and analysis by category (you will need to login with your username and password). Email us at info@fdra.org if you have questions or need help logging in.
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Intra-Asia Disruption Threatening Vietnam's
Factories and Export Growth
Factories in Vietnam and southern China are working through their lunar new year holidays to catch up with production backlogs.

But getting goods to market is a challenge, thanks to bottlenecks in shipping capacity.
For Vietnam, the problem is more pronounced, as it also threatens the inbound flow of raw materials for manufacturing, which could slow the country’s meteoric rise and force some sourcing back to China, warned Akhil Nair, VP global carrier management and ocean strategy at Seko Logistics.

Intra-region supply chains have been disrupted by the discrepancy in demand and available capacity. Across the Pearl River Delta, feeder operators stopped accepting cargo seven to 10 days out, in the run-up to Friday’s new year holiday, some even declining new bookings until the end of February, Mr Nair reported.
A current issue that catches our attention this month: Pulp prices.
Ironically, a bullish consequence of the pandemic is higher pulp prices. With many staying close to home and eyeing home improvement projects, demand for lumber has surged, pushing CME random lengths lumber nearby futures to an unprecedented $1,000 per 1,000 board feet, double the price from late last year.  
 
Online Shipping Costs Expected to Increase
Further into the Pandemic
Delivery costs have been rising across the country and are expected to continue as the pandemic drags on, creating a serious headwind for retailers, according to a report by Jefferies.

“The recent growth in shipping costs has been fueled by the surge in e-commerce penetration, which has created a significant supply/demand imbalance and left carriers capacity constrained,” Jeffries’ analyst Janine Stichter said in the report, which was based on a call with Dean Maciuba, a former FedEx executive who is currently the North America managing partner at consulting firm Last Mile Experts.

Consumers expect fast and free shipping, but that is an increasing burden for many retailers, especially those that were hurt by extended shutdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic. Mid-sized retailers are especially at risk because many don’t have the capacity to implement a robust and efficient enough shipping strategy to keep up with the demand for fast deliveries.