In 2020 and 2021, the pandemic negatively affected many sectors around the world. So how is 2021 going for the jewellery industry?
As you very well know, jewellery is one of the sectors most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as the consumer first gave up on luxury consumption in an economic downturn. The jewellery industry has been deeply affected, as we are an industry that exports, especially with passengers, due to the fact that flights have come to a standstill.
But we are doing our best with the activities we will do to realize our sector targets for 2021. JCK Las Vegas National Participation Fair, the first fair after 1.5 years, was held on August 27-30.
Between 7 and 10th of October 2021, Turkey' s first and only international jewellery fair, Istanbul Jewellery Show International Jewellery, Silver, Watch and Accessories Fair will be participated by the Jewellery Exporters' Association's info and product stand, where design products will be exhibited. In January 2022, a procurement committee will gather in Antalya.
What are the 2020 figures of the Turkish Jewellery Industry and your export target for 2021?
According to TIM data, we exported 3.8 billion dollars (FOB value) in 2020. If we add the price of gold bullion made with DIR to this figure, we reach a total export figure of 6.4 billion dollars.
According to TIM data, in the January-December period of 2020, jewellery made of gold, made of gold, amounted to 1.6 billion dollars, with a decrease of 17% compared to the previous period. Along with the gold price brought by the inward processing regime, jewellery items made of gold were exported, with a 30% decrease between January and December 2020, amounting to 3.4 billion dollars.
Considering the 27% rise in gold prices, the real decline in jewellery exports is around 50%. Between 01.01.2021 and 30.06.2021, jewellery exports increased by 52.23% compared to the same period of the previous year and amounted to $2,460,694,165.
Our goal is to increase our exports to 9 billion dollars.
Which are the countries to which we export the most jewellery as Turkey and what is the latest situation in these markets? Can you tell us about the new markets you are targeting?
The countries we export the most jewellery are the USA, the UK, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Egypt and Kyrgyzstan.
We aim to strengthen our presence in the European market, the USA and the Middle East by reaching more countries through e-commerce (JBOX).
Could you give brief information about Turkey's jewellery production and export capacity?
Although Turkey has an annual gold processing capacity of 400 tons, it cannot use all of this capacity. In our country, approximately 250-300 tons of gold jewellery is produced every year. More than 250,000 jobs are provided in the sector with 35,000 jewellers and 6,000 manufacturers.
What would you like to say about the production power, workmanship, product quality and logistics of the Turkish jewellery industry, what is our place in the world and our future goals in this regard, what is our growth potential?
Our companies are in a good position in production, craftsmanship, product quality and logistics. We are:
- One of the top 4 countries in the world, together with India, China and Italy, which export its production,
- One of the 3 largest manufacturers in the world, along with India and China,
- One of the 5 largest markets in the world, along with India, China, USA and Russia.
The jewellery industry is well above the average of the other 26 sectors in Turkey and has a 5% share of the world export market.
Our Main Goal: To ensure that our country is a playmaker in the world in the production and export of jewellery. And it has the potential to make it happen. While it is a pleasing development that the share of our sector's exports in world exports has doubled in the last 10 years, we believe that we will increase this rate to 10% when our sector potential is considered.
Considering the variety of products exported by the Turkish Jewellery Industry, which products and markets are mostly exported?
Exports of gold products are high. The most exported countries in this group are United Arab Emirates, Iraq, United States of America, Hong Kong, Libya, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, Egypt, Netherlands and Germany.
How do you evaluate the digital transformation of Turkish jewellery industry representatives?
As we all know, the Covid-19 global pandemic has brought a new dimension to international trade. Due to transportation difficulties and physical gathering concerns all over the world, online platforms have started to replace the usual marketing activities. Our Board of Directors, without wasting any time in the first months of the Pandemic, we set out for an E-Commerce Platform project in order to quickly catch up with the world dynamics.
Turkishjewellery.org is the Grand Bazaar of the new normal period, which allows time and space independent export! Professional photographs of 200 products of each participating company taken from 2 angles, 360-degree product videos and photographs taken on live models are displayed on the portal. So, we shot every product from 4 angles, professionally. And we produced approximately 50,000 contents.
JOIN: Jewellery Online International Network: In the National Participation Organizations we have organized for international fairs as the Union, our aim in the sectoral Trade Committees and travels we organized such as Miami, Riyadh and Antalya was to do marketing through Guerrilla Marketing.
As a result of the pandemic in the world today, we have encountered intense demands from both the Ministry and our sector for the organization of virtual organizations. We have continued our efforts to present the world's best virtual live sales organization to our industry.
The first of these was organized between 16-18 February 2021, and our buyers and exporters from all over the world came together on the online platform. The second of this event was organized between 14-16 April 2021. Virtual events will continue to be organized throughout 2021.
In addition, the publication of JTR Export Magazine, which is the corporate publication of the Jewellery Exporters' Association, will continue. In addition, with the publication of WOJ Magazine, international big jewellery players will be reached and the positive image of the developing Turkish jewellery market will be reinforced. Together with these, Birlik News, which started to be published during the pandemic process, will continue to send summaries of global jewellery industry news to our members' e-mail addresses and mobile phones. Publications in foreign languages will also be made on the Global Jewellery News website, and periodic bulletins will be delivered to foreign buyers.