Antalya Leather & Fur Fashion Fair, where a significant portion of the exports in the leather sector is carried out, is getting ready to open its doors for the 10th time on May 18-21 with the participation from 17 countries and over 1200 buyers. While expressing that the highest participation in the fair will come from Russia and sharing their expectation for a large transaction volume, Turkish Leather Industrialists Association (TDKD) Chairman of the Board Gürkan Gözmen stated that almost two-thirds of the sector's total trade achieved passes through the fairs which held in Antalya.
Exports in the leather sector reached a record level in the first 3 months of 2023. The exports of the Leather and Leather Products sector in the January-March period of 2023 increased by 13.7 percent and reached 570.5 million dollars in total. Looking at the sub-sectors; Footwear export value increased by 20% to $392.2 million, leather goods increased by 8.7% to $82 million, Manufactured Leather and Fur decreased by 15% to $58.2 million, and Leather and Fur Apparel increased by 24.5% to 37.5 million dollars.
While stating that as of the end of March, the Leather and Fur Apparel industry was the industry with the highest increase by 24 percent compared to the first 3 months of the previous year amongst the leather sub-groups, Turkish Leather Industrialists Association (TDKD) Chairman of the Board Gürkan Gözmen said the following in evaluation, "We expected this increase to be more after the pandemic. However, the emergence of the Chinese factor destroyed the plans to enter the world market with the tremendous prices aggressively. As an industry, we are operating at levels in which we can compete with the Chinese."
Antalya Leather & Fur Fashion Fair is Awaited
While announcing the fall of the countdown for Antalya Leather & Fur Fashion Fair 2023, which is one of the most important organizations of the leather industry and where more than 1200 foreign buyers from 17 countries will be hosted, Gürkan Gözmen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Leather Industrialists Association (TDKD) said that the biggest participation to the fair despite the conflict will be from Russia and shared their expectations for a large transaction volume at the fair which will be held on May 18-21.
While underlining that the leather industry is a labor-intensive one, Gözmen said, "Our expectations after the pandemic was going in a direction in which we might not meet the demand. However, very low foreign currency rate, the inflation rate, the increase in labor and energy costs are having a negative impact on us to stay competitive. Energy is responsible for 5 percent in the leather apparel industry costs. In the tanneries section, this rate goes up to 20-30 percent. Of course, the reduction in energy prices will come with a relief in the product, but the critical increase in labor costs and the inflation rate which still goes in high direction prevent us from opening export markets competitively.’’
Biggest Market Russia
While stating that Russia is the largest market in the sector, Gözmen said, "We expected a significant rise in the Russian market last year. However, due to the emergence of war which led to a contraction in our key markets, we could not achieve the desired levels last year. Despite all the negativities experienced, we closed 2022 with an increase of 17-18 percent."
While underlining the demand which fall behind the expectations after the pandemic due to the low foreign exchange rates, Gözmen said, "As of now, we are exporting to 50 countries. Our exports consisting of leather traders and small SME’s which are clustered in Zeytinburnu, at the center of leather apparel trade. Our main goal as an association is to match these SME’s with customers. We achieve this cooperation with Antalya fairs. Almost two-thirds of the sector's total trade achieved passes through the two fairs which held in Antalya. In other words, two-thirds of our trade for 12 months is come from the customers who participate in these fairs.”
The American Market Is Growing Exponentially
While noting that more than 1200 buyers from 17 countries will participate in the fair, which will be held between 18-21 May, Gözmen stated that all of the visitors are potential buyers and shared their positive feelings about the customers whom have not registered such demand for such a long time. While recording that sales which are realized in touristic regions in the domestic market, which is almost twice the export value, Gözmen said, "The earthquake disaster we experienced slightly reduce tourism revenues and our expectations in those regions. Hopefully, the sector will take its place in the long run."
While emphasizing their will for stability instead of huge ups and downs in the sector, Gözmen continued as follows; “Russia, which was a dominant market, now has ceased to be a major market. America is one of the fastest growing markets in recent years. The exports to America and Russia are at the same level at the moment. But we see more of this potential in America. We have a stable growth target with stable markets. I believe that the leather industry will continue to grow by 10-15 percent every year.”
