Fiamp: export trend in third quarter
During the third quarter 2005, overall Italian exports grew by 5.7% compared to the same quarter 2004 (growth in the second quarter was equal to 6.4%): the first nine months of the year closed with a basically lower growth of 3.5%.
In this evolutionary context, the sectors in Fiamp (Italian Federation of Fashion and Personal Accessories) recorded a negative overall export trend: the variation was equal to -6.5% in the third quarter 2005 (+3.9% in the second quarter), which meant that the first nine months of the year closed with a negative variation of -1.8%.
Among the individual Fiamp sectors, only eyewear recorded an increase in export value on a quarterly basis (+5.9%) and for the first nine months of the year (+7.4%). The value of exports in the leather sector marked a downturn of 1.7% in the third quarter, but the trend remained positive over the nine months (+7.8%). The negative trend continued also for exports in the footwear sector, which dropped by 0.3% in the third quarter (an improvement compared to the -4.6% of the second quarter) with an overall reduction of 4.4% in the January-September period 2005.
The worst performance in the third quarter 2005 was recorded by the jewelry and goldsmith sector: exports decreased by 25% in value compared to the third quarter 2004 and the first nine months of 2005 closed with a 5.5% falloff compared to the same period of the previous year.
The analysis of Fiamp's main export destination countries showed that the downturn continued in the third quarter 2005 compared to the same quarter 2004 for exports to the main outlets: United States (a variation of -22.4% in the third quarter and -11.3% in the first nine months of the year). France is still at the second place with +3.4% on a quarterly basis and -1.4% over nine months. The quarterly downturn for Switzerland was 23%, putting it in fourth place after Germany which recorded a 0.2% drop for the quarter and 5.8% over the first nine months of the year.
Prominent in the classification of the first 20 destination countries for Fiamp sectors is the 52.4% increase in exports to South Korea, which ranks now at the 18th place for the third quarter, and the increase of 15.7% for the quarter and 34.8% for the nine months of exports to Turkey (at the 16th place). China is not among the first twenty destination countries in the third quarter, but its reduction of 14.5% keeps it at the bottom of the classification for exports in the January-September 2005 period.
The main outlets for the footwear sector during the third quarter saw Germany rise to first place, followed by France (+3.3%) and the United States which recorded a downturn of 13.2%. In the classification for the first nine months of the year, Germany is still in first place (the United States fell by 16.6%).
Still in the first three places in both classifications (quarter and nine months) for the eyewear sector are the United States, France and Spain. With an increase of 23.5% for the quarter, Germany rose to fourth place before the United Kingdom in the classification for the nine months.In the leather goods sector, Switzerland remains in first place, which is also due to the effect of product movement logistics, even though it recorded -31.9% in the third quarter. It is followed by Japan (+16.5%) and the United States (-16%).
Lastly, in the goldsmith and jewelry sector the first three outlet markets for the third quarter 2005 have all recorded a negative trend: United States (-44.8%), Switzerland (-10.9%) and United Arab Emirates (with -6.9% in the third quarter, it gained second place in the classification for the first nine months of the year).
