Switzerland first country for export
Positive trend also in the second quarter for the Italian jewellery, silverware and jewellery sector, driven by foreign sales (+14.2%).
The analysis prepared for Federorafi by the Study Center of Confindustria Moda shows in the first half of the year, also as a result of inflationary dynamics, a double digit increase in exports (+15.3%, despite the deceleration of the May-June bimestre) together with a consolidation of the sectoral trade balance (+9.1%) and an increase in turnover of +9.2% among the companies in the sample of Associates interviewed.
The number of active enterprises decreased slightly compared to December (-0.9%), but this was accompanied by a positive improvement in employment levels (+1.5%, after the encourag-ing trend of 2022). However, growth is expected to cool in the second half of the year, of which, however, there have already been clear signs in the data of industrial production and exported quantities of gold jewellery.
Switzerland (+52.5% on January-June of last year) rises to the first place in value among the foreign mar-kets of the sector, surpassing the USA (which despite a moderate +3.7% remain the most expanding market in the last four years). Third place went to France (+9.8%, leader among EU customers), ahead of the Arab Emirates (+0.3%). Instead, as a consequence of the ongoing conflict, sales in Russia fell further (-68.1%).
In the first half of the year, Tuscany (+13.5%) was at the top of the list of exporting regions, with a share of 35% of the national total, ahead of Veneto (+1.9%) and Piedmont (-0.6%). Balzo della Lombardia (+71.9%), fourth, thanks also to the distribution strategies adopted by the big international luxury brands.
Arezzo (+5.6%), followed by Vicenza (+3.5%), Alessandria (+11.3%), Milan (+74%) and Florence (+68.2%), were always in the lead. The two provinces of the Campania district of Naples-Caserta, important from the productive point of view although with a low propensity to export, show overall a +11.3%.
For the President of Confindustria FEDERORAFI, Claudia Piaserico:
The six-monthly data confirm the extraordinary ability of goldsmith entrepreneurs to perform again positively in a period in which many other sectors of Made in Italy are suffering but, inevitably, The second half of 2023 will be marked by a marked slowdown in the pace of development. On the other hand, this scenario is widely predictable, given the current uncertainty in the global economic landscape, with signs of weakness in many important economies and a conflict that is still going on more than a year and a half after the beginning and another that has just erupted in the Middle East. The trends of some markets certify the correctness of the strategies of the federation that with my mandate have focused on "measurable" actions for internationalization such as those with the Large Distribution Organization in the USA, France and Great Britain, innovative projects to study the evolution of distribution flows in Europe and communication with the forthcoming launch (2024) of an institutional campaign of "influencer marketing" to support demand in some target markets. Also the keeping of the occupational levels comforts me on the goodness of original operations like the one that, with the support of IEG/Vicenzaoro, we have activated with the portal Skuola.net where, for example, the two collateral Vblog (VALUE and INHERIT) in a few months have reached on different social tools almost 2 million views. Therefore, the sector, with its unique mix of creativity, heritage, craftsmanship, technology and sustainability, is able to consolidate its global leadership and to be highly attractive for new generations even if, on this last point, continues the worrying shortage of young and old who want to approach the manufacturing professions».
VO+ Magazine
