GIT expects that Thailand’s export of gems and jewelry will grow in the last quarter of 2018 due to economic recovery in the global market and major trade partners as well as inventory re-stocking for year-end sales.
“Thailand’s export of jewelry is predicted to expand in the last quarter, thanks to ongoing global economic recovery and better economy in Thailand’s key trade partners. This leads to an increase in consumers’ purchasing power and demands for luxury goods while many buyers are placing new orders for jewelry which will be sold during yearend festivals including Christmas and New Year,” says Ms. Duangkamol Jiambutr, director of the Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand (Public Organization).
However, she advises Thai jewelers to closely monitor US trade policies and fluctuation of money markets and capital markets in emerging countries, which influence the foreign exchange market and affect the competitiveness of Thailand’s exports. Therefore, Thai entrepreneurs should manage exchange rate risks properly. Moreover, they should study consumers’ behavior which is changing rapidly in order to offer products to serve their demands.
“Thai jewelers should focus more on online marketing because consumers today tend to use the internet to search for products, read product reviews before buying and place more online orders,” adds the GIT director.
According to GIT, Thailand’s export value of gem and jewelry products including gold reached USD 7,893.07 million in the first eight months of this year (January-August 2018), a 6.19% drop from the same period of the previous year. However, the export of gem and jewelry products excluding gold stood at USD 4,855.28 million, 7.83% up from the same period of the previous year.
As for each key product, the export value of gold jewelry increased 10.57% while export of silver jewelry grew 3.6%. Moreover, export value of platinum jewelry, polished diamond, polished precious stone, and polished semiprecious stone increased 2.51%, 5.94%, 1.98% and 7.77%, respectively.
Top five key export markets in the first eight months included Switzerland, Hong Kong, Cambodia, the US and Germany, respectively. Cambodia is the fastest-growing export market with a growth of 138.44% due to higher gold export. Exports to the US grew 13.67% from silver jewelry, gold jewelry, precious stones, diamond and costume jewelry.
Jewelry export to Germany was up 23.95%, mainly from silver jewelry. Meanwhile, exports to Switzerland and Hong Kong decreased 48.49% and 7.61%, respectively.
Unwrought gold accounted for 85% of gem and jewelry export from Thailand to Switzerland, however, its export value was down 52.56%, while export of gold jewelry and precious stones were up 7.14% and 5.27%, respectively. Thailand’s export to Hong Kong decreased due to lower exports of gold jewelry, precious stones and silver jewelry which fell 4.55%, 1.65% and 42.83%, respectively while the export value of diamond grew 1.71%
For other markets, export to the EU countries increased 11.30%, thanks to higher demand for silver jewelry, gold jewelry and diamond. Moreover, increasing export of gold jewelry to the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait led to a 14.47% export growth in the Middle East.
Export to India was up 14.1% due to higher demand for diamond and gold jewelry while export to China grew 13.96% due to increasing demands from the Chinese for more jewelry, particularly those imported.
Additionally, export to Japan grew 3.79% since the country’s expanding economy led to higher demand for luxury goods, especially jewelry. In this market, Thailand exported more gold jewelry, platinum jewelry and silver jewelry.
Thailand’s export of gem and jewelry products to ASEAN region increased 12.4% due to higher export to Singapore and Vietnam. Export to Russia and CIS countries grew 24.14% due to higher export of silver which is considered the favorite jewelry for Russian customers.
