Nike, Adidas supplier Pou Chen’s Vietnam unit to manufacture whole footwear

Pou Phong Vietnam Company Ltd., a subsidiary of Taiwan’s major athletic and casual footwear Pou Chen, is set to make whole shoes, according to a company report.

Pou Phong started its investments worth $115 million in Vietnam’s southern province of Dong Nai in 2017. It had a designed capacity of manufacturing 96 million pairs of shoe soles, 24 million pairs of shoe accessories, 420 tons of materials, and 96 tons of molds.

Under a new plan, the company will stop making shoe materials and molds. While the production of shoe soles and accessories remains, the firm will add an output of 3.6 million pairs of shoes and 3.6 million pairs of shoe upper parts.

The firm plans to complete related administrative procedures in May-July, install equipment and start trial production in August-October, and see the expansion segment officially enter operation from November 2024.

Footwear is a key export product of Vietnam. The country’s total exports rose 15.7% year-on-year to $226.98 billion during January-July 2024, up 14.5% from January-June. Footwear accounted for $12.92 billion, up 10.1% year-on-year. It was the fifth-biggest figure, only behind electronics, computers and components; phones and components; machinery and equipment; and textile and garment.

Vietnam is a key production hub of Pou Chen, one of the largest branded athletic and casual footwear manufacturers in the world and a supplier to Nike, Adidas, Puma, and Reebok. Its factories in Indonesia, Vietnam, and mainland China accounted for 49%, 34%, and 12% of the firm’s total volume of shoes shipped in 2023, respectively.