Growth in leather accessories market in the South is not in sync with the growth witnessed in the footwear industry as a host of factors including the lack of local supply sources are creating hurdles on its path. Though in last five years several companies have opened shops in the southern leather belt, the dependence on high cost imports from China and sourcing from upcountry destination such as Mumbai, New Delhi and Noida, which still accounts for 65% to 70% of the requirement, make it less competitive in the international market.
In China, which is a strong competitor for India, leather accessories are locally available. In fact, most of the accessory vendors have their units at strategic locations within 100 km of the manufacturing area. However, in the South, only 30% to 35% of the accessories are supplied by local vendors. ?The footwear accessories vendor network is far better now compared to five years ago. We feel the network will and should improve with the growth in the overall leather industry,? said Rafeeque Ahmed, one of the leading leather product exporters from South.
He said industry players have realised that the accessories market should grow in line with the industry. And, in fact, several companies have expressed their desire to open accessory factories to support the industry. ?This is a positive signal and we have asked members to give preference to the local vendors while placing orders to encourage new players to set up shop,? he added.
According to an industry expert, investments need to flow in for manufacture of rubber soles and synthetic materials like linings in the southern leather belt. ?In last five years, several players have started producing thermo plastic rubber soles (TPR). But production of rubber soles have not taken off as expected. They are being sourced from the northern part of the country or even from China. Availability of these main accessories should improve in the coming years as a backbone for the leather industry,? he said.
China is well ahead of others in terms of coming up with new products and designs, as it is a huge market. India is slowly catching up. Efforts are on to improve on the design front.
Within the recently opened Ambur Trade Centre (ATC), the leather industry is planning to have a product engineering development facility. The idea is to help the footwear manufacturers, especially the small and medium entrepreneurs, with design and engineering capabilities and thereby enhance the production and exports, sources said.