Libyan buyer seeks out new footwear brands in Brazil

São Paulo – Importer Mohamed Swayeb is in Brazil making new connections to meet the footwear demand in Libya. Swayeb is a commercial representative at Alkhaleg Company, which distributes products to Tunisia and Egypt too. He came to São Paulo to attend Couromoda (pictured above), a footwear trade show that ran earlier this week, and visited the Brazilian Arab Chamber of Commerce.

While in Brazil, the businessman visited old partners and started talks with two new brands. Pegada, that has two plants in Rio Grande do Sul and Bahia, and Dray, that manufactures in the city of Saudades, Santa Catarina. Negotiations are on their way with two other companies.

The first brand sells men’s, women’s and children’s footwear, including boots, shoes, slippers and moccasins. Dray works with a sports line. Swayeb explains that he’ll soon receive samples of the products in Libya. The distributor makes orders of at least two containers.

Thais Sousa/ANBA

Swayeb: Demand for Brazilian footwear on the rise

The Arab businessman first came to Brazil in 2009, closed his first deal here in 2011 and is a traditional importer of footwear from Brazil. He believes that the demand for the Brazilian product is on the rise, but the instability in Libya keeps the increase from being bigger. “The war in Libya caused many problems. Dollar was LD 1.40 and then reached LD 9.60. Now it’s at LD 4.90 again. It’s not safe to travel around the city or between cities,” he pointed out to ANBA.

Still, the businessman is optimistic and says that his demand for Brazilian suppliers will certainly increase this year. “The interest in Libya for footwear from Brazil is high. When things [in the country] settle down, it’ll improve,” Swayeb believes.

He says that logistics is the main obstacle for Brazilian products to widen its market share in the region. The main footwear exporters to Libya are China, Turkey and Thailand, followed by Brazil. “The distance is the largest barrier, but the product is good and resilient. Brazil has recently made much progress in leather. The quality improves year after year, and logistics has improved too. It was much harder before,” the Libyan says.

The Brazilian brands that Swayeb already work with include Ramarim and Beira Rio, which he works with seasonally, according to the collections launched each season. In addition, there are also children’s footwear companies such as Kidy.