Italy's gold jewellery exporters risk losing market share because of the strong euro, soaring gold prices and fierce competition from developing countries and alternative lifestyle products, specialists said on Tuesday.
After the week-long Vicenza gold jewellery trade fair wrapped up, they expressed worries that the industry needed to reform to meet the rising challenge of poorer countries that groom design skills at a fraction of Italy's labour costs.
"The Italian jewellery sector could face a prolonged crisis," said Claudio Pagani, an independent jewellery analyst and former jewellery manager at the World Gold Council (WGC).
"In Italy, demand for gold jewellery has halved over the past decade in the face of stiff competition from other lifestyle products such as mobile phones, CDs and holidays."
Italy is the world's leading gold jewellery exporter and Europe's biggest consumer of the precious metal.
Pagani urged Italian companies to use their design prowess in joint ventures in countries such as China that have a competitive advantage from cheaper wages.
Andrea Turcato, secretary general of the Vicenza fair, which brings together thousands of professional buyers shopping for the latest designs, said he was cautiously optimistic about Italian gold and silver jewellery exports in 2004.
"2004 will be a year not devoid of difficulties and problems, but rich in opportunities for those companies that know how to satisfy demand for 'Italian-made' ware," he said.
Turcato said he had heard positive reports about Christmas sales of Italian jewels in the US, Italy's main market.
But the recent trend in Italian exports has been dismal.
According to Vicenza fair, Italian gold and silver jewellery exports slumped by 23 percent year-on-year in the first 10 months of 2003 to 3.13 billion euros ($4.03 billion).
The Iraq war, the deadly Sars virus and economic worries around the word took their toll on Italian sales, compounded by the strengthening euro and the surge in gold prices.
The Vicenza fair showcased a new exhibition of the latest in Italian gold jewellery designs to try to regain market share from the onslaught of competition from jewellery manufacturers in China, India, Thailand and Turkey.
The exhibition, "Gold Expressions", featuring chokers with snakes and a variety of chunky, geometric styles, will tour jewellery shows around the world in 2004 to flaunt Italian designers' talents, said John Calnon, international jewellery director of the WGC, which has backed the marketing blitz.
"When faced with adverse circumstances, you look at your strengths," Calnon told Reuters. "In Italy's case, these are its history of design and creativity."
Comments
Comments are closed.