Vicenza, 13th January. According to the latest Istat data-elaboration on the performance of exports, carried out by the Center of Studies of Fiera Vicenza, the scenario is contradictory. Between January and September, exports grew by 19% in value, remaining at fixed volume. A change with respect to the tougher years did occur, but the volatility of the markets renders the situation uncertain as of yet.

Italy's share on the world market in 2007 remained largely unchanged: around 5.4%. Our country, despite recent difficulties, still retains its 1st place on the global scale of jewellery-exporting countries.

As far as the markets go, the first 9 months proved positive for those of the Middle East (+65.6%) and Eastern Europe (+50.7%), pushed by increased financial opportunities and thus a propensity for consumption.

The sub-prime mortgage crisis has instead made the situation diffcult for American buyers (-7.3%).
Uncertainty also prevails in the Mercosur area (-18.9%), while Japan faces a definite crisis (-25.1%).
Also to be signalled is instead the recovery in sales value (thus with a detectable price component) in Eastern Asian countries (+17.9%) and Euroland (+12.5%)

Headlining the group of markets with the most interesting growth rates are Switzerland, UK, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and Czech Republic.

Average value increases by 19.2%, with the increase in raw materials, praising the tendency to increase the value added to the jewellery as chosen by the most dynamic companies.

In terms of the goldsmith segment, the weaving factories of Vicenza and Arezzo still head the ranks of the main districts of Italian exporters of gold jewellery, with 35.2 and 31.6% of the total respectively.

Once again in 2007, it's the exports that are powering the sector after demand in the national market has further decreased.

On one hand, we have uncertainty of the general picture, evermore aggressive competitors and continuous fluctuations in the cost of raw materials and currencies. On the other, there are great opportunities stemming from emerging markets and those European ones that display increasing interest in the Made in Italy. In this scenario, the way of liberating the jewellery sector from the turbulence of the economic cycle is by competing on quality, style, and the unique, original charm of the products, thus abandoning the dangerous ground of price competition.