As a preview to VICENZAORO JANUARY 2019, Italian Exhibition Group, Federorafi Confindustria Moda and Federpreziosi Confcommercio analyze the sector data
World consumption up by 3% in the third quarter with China, USA, Emirates and Germany among the most positive countries; the Italian jewellery sector’s trade balance in surplus by 3.17 bn Euro during the January – September period; exports growing in the USA; Canada and Japan
VICENZAORO exhibitors, focused on quality products, are feeling positive Vicenza
January will see the opening of VICENZAORO January 2019 at Vicenza Exhibition Centre, the first and much-awaited international gold and jewellery event, organized by IEG – Italian Exhibition Group. To mark the occasion, leading Monitoring Units weigh up the sector’s situation in Italy and the world.
Gold – jewellery consumption is stable in our country. Proving the fact were the Christmas 2018 sales. According to estimations, 12.7% of Italians purchased fine jewellery, bijoux or watches: a percentage in line with that of 2017 (12.3%).
The figure – from the Federpreziosi Confcommercio Monitoring Unit – is certainly positive and within the contest of the market for consumption in general, especially if considered together with the fact that 75.6% of Italians declared that they wanted to maintain their jewellery budget and 17.2% said they had increased it.
The composition of buying channel distribution also remains stable with a slight growth in traditional jewellery stores compared to shopping centres in the face of a constant growth in on-line purchases – both on malls like Amazon and at individual brand e-boutiques.
In regard to exports, in general gold-jewellery is still a strategic sector for the Made in Italy manufacturing industry with a trade balance showing a surplus of 3.17 billion Euros in the first nine months of 2018. In fact, the data processed by Confindustria Moda – Federorafi, show that, in the first nine months of the year that so recently drew to a close, the overall value of exports came to over 4.7 billion Euros, while import values exceeded one and a half billion (precious metals and gems excluded).
After the double-figure growth of 2017 and a highly positive start to 2018, and despite a slight slowdown in Italian exports last autumn, there was an air of optimism among VICENZAORO exhibitors, focused on quality gold and jewellery segments, at the end of 2018.
In particular, some markets, like the UK, South Africa, Canada, Japan and Russia, closed positively, opening up opportunities for further growth. Switzerland (a re-exportation hub) is still the main importer for Made in Italy, even after a slight decrease (-1.4%), while, due to the introduction of VAT and customs duties being slowly “incorporated”, creating a temporary slowdown in imports, exports to the United Arab Emirates were still down. The area is also feeling the weight of geo-political dynamics that directly impact – both positively and negatively – trade flows.
A positive sign, however, for Great Britain, where Italian product purchases rose by 18.2%. In the USA, orders for Made in Italy jewellery started to increase again in the third quarter to +12.3% compared to the same period in the previous year.
Taking into consideration global jewellery consumption, the first nine months of the year show a substantially stable situation (-1%) compared to 2017, according to IEG’s VICENZAORO Monitoring Unit, which does, however, report a 3% growth in the last quarter.
This figure was, in fact, influenced by a considerable growth in Chinese consumption (+18%) where Made in Italy product sales are expected to progressively increase due to the effect of policies aimed at opening the market to imports and which have significantly reduced customs duties since July 2018. A positive signal regarding consumption has also arrived from the Emirates with a +9% increase compared to the previous year.
On the other hand, the third quarter saw India suffering, together with Turkey, where heavy domestic dynamics are impacting consumers’ spending power.
Lastly, Russia is registering substantial stability, which is a particularly good omen for VICENZAORO since it has always welcomed a large number of Russian visitors.
