Lisbon, Sept. 7, 2025 (Lusa) - MICAM, the footwear fair in Milan, considered by the sector to be the most important, starts on Sunday and runs until Tuesday, with Portugal represented by 42 companies that have done ‘their homework’ and prepared for difficult times.
MICAM, which is celebrating its 100th edition, has more than 1,000 brands and expects around 42,000 visitors.
There will be 42 Portuguese companies at the event, organised by APICCAPS - the Portuguese Association of Footwear, Components, Leather Goods and Related Products Manufacturers.
"This is the most important and prestigious international trade fair, where we have the strongest Portuguese representation. This fair allows us to have contact with customers from all over the world, as well as Europe, the USA, Canada, Japan and Korea," APICCAPS spokesman and communications director Paulo Gonçalves, told Lusa.
Despite the good performance that the Portuguese footwear sector has recorded this year, gaining ground on its main competitors, namely Italy and Spain, there are still some doubts about the outcome of the second half of the year.
This period is being marked by the tariff agreement between the US and Europe, the collateral consequences of which for the footwear sector cannot yet be ascertained.
On the other hand, some of the markets considered most important are showing a very modest economic performance, namely Germany, which is “on the brink of a technical recession,” and to which Portugal exports €400 million in shoes every year, according to APICCAPS' communications director.
Even so, Portuguese footwear is ‘relatively optimistic’ given the investment that has been made in the industry.
More than €100 million in investment is underway in projects linked to areas such as automation and more sustainable solutions.
"We have prepared ourselves for difficult times. We aim to be a leading international reference for sustainable solutions, and we have made significant investments. These are difficult and demanding times, but we've done our homework," said Paulo Gonçalves.
In this context, the products arising from the BioShoes4All project will be presented for the first time. The project involves 70 partners, including research organisations and companies, and has the support of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
This project, which focuses on sustainability, uses products that enable rapid production but also boost recycling, including rice husks, cereals, olive stones, chestnuts, mussel shells, vine prunings or algae, to reinforce new materials, insoles, reinforcements or shoe soles.
According to data provided by APICCAPS, Portuguese footwear exports increased by 3.7% in value to €843 million in the first half of 2025.
Between January and June, 36 million pairs were exported, up 5.4%.
In 2024, footwear cluster exports totalled €2.147 billion.
Last year, Portugal produced 80 million pairs of shoes, of which 68 million pairs were exported, worth €1.724 billion.
During this period, Portuguese footwear was commercialised in more than 170 countries and Belize was the most recent destination.
With regard to new markets, APICCAPS has ‘fine-tuned its strategy’ and identified 145 cities around the world with the capacity to receive Portuguese footwear, which is also one of the most expensive in the world, justified by its specialisation in leather.
Two thirds of these cities are in Europe or the United States.
The Strategic Plan for the Footwear Cluster foresees an investment of €600 million by 2030.
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