Heitor Klein, Executive President of Abicalçados, the Brazilian Shoe Manufacturers Association, is not surprised with the results for the semester, since there has been a slowdown in exports since April: "The Brazilian economic crisis and its political bias have directly affected the sector, due to abrupt fluctuations in the exchange rate and also political factors, such as the shutdown in May and the shortage of raw materials and components for the industry".

According to the same source, at the moment it is very difficult to forecast the near future but: "most of the spring-summer sales, the strength of Brazilian exports, have already been traded and we do not see any improvement in the numbers."

Abicalçados estimates that in the first half of the year, Brazilian footwear exports fell by 6.7% in volume (from 59.36 million to 55.37 million pairs) and by 7.9% in value (from 528.7 million US dollars to 486.9 million US dollars).

The main destination for Brazilian footwear in the first half of the year was Argentina, acquiring 5.5 million pairs with a total value of 76.4 million US dollars, up by 30.6% in volume and by 18.2% in value (compared to similar period of 2017). The second destination was the United States, to where 5 million pairs were sold for a total of 75.2 million US dollars, a 10% increase in volume and a drop of 21.6% in value compared to last year. The third most important market for Brazilian footwear in the period was France, which imported 3.5 million pairs with a total value of 30.2 million US dollars, up by 40.3% and 9.8%, respectively, in comparison with the same period of 2017.