Greek fur industry suffered a significant decline in demand from abroad in the last three years, hit by a devaluation of the Russian rouble following developments in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict which reduced the purchasing power of Russian consumers (Russia is the main export market for Greek furs), Alexis Nikolaidis, Economic Research & Sectoral Studies Senior Analyst in IBHS SA said, commenting on a survey.
The survey noted that “several Greek enterprises with activities in United Arab Emirates were forced to close down their shops or to leave the market as the number of Russian tourists in the Arab country has been drastically reduced. In mid-2015, a total of 110 Greek fur shops were operating in Dubai, down from 150 two years ago.
Exports of fur clothes in 2015 totaled 125.55 million euros, down 37 pct from the previous year, for an accumulated decline of 41 pct in the last five years. This development has lead the majority of enterprises to temporarily suspend productive operations as they have high inventories of ready products unable to be distributed abroad, while they faced problems in accessing raw material from abroad.
The Kastorian Fur Association noted that Chinese buyers were very active in international auction markets, acquiring significant quantities.
Maria Metaxogeni, CEO in IBHS, said that a possible economic recovery in Russia will boost the revenue of Greek fur enterprises and noted that enterprises must further boost exports.
The survey analyzed the financial reports of 44 enterprises in the sector. Accumulated turnover fell 22 pct to 138.52 million euros, EBITDA fell 44.5 pct to 11.92 million euros, while pre-tax results showed a loss of 1.27 million euros, from profits of 10.71 million the previous year. EBITDA margin eased to 7.8 pct.
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