Costume jewelry exports grow 46% in 2005

Costume jewelry exports grow 46% in 2005
Sun Star

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DESPITE the low prices of fashion accessories from China, the local costume jewelry sector has spurred “tremendous” growth last year, an official from the Cebu-Fashion Accessories Manufacturers and Exporters (Fame) said.

Cebu-Fame president Marose Sobreno said Cebu’s total exports last year increased to 46.76 percent, or reached $63.4 million compared to the $43.2 million the previous year.

Data from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-7 information center also revealed the fashion accessories sector contributed 1.36 percent of total exports in Central Visayas during the first six months of the year.

“I am optimistic that the industry will continue to grow this year especially since new players come in every year,” Sobreno told Sun.Star Cebu.

The province accounts for 85 percent of the costume jewelry exports in the country.

Sobreno said the market for local spring-summer line of costume jewelry continues to generate interest, especially in the US market, during the first quarter of each year.

The US remains to be the country’s top market for costume jewelry, with total exports of $6.97 million in the first four months of the year, a 9.44 percent growth from the $6.37 million earned in the same period last year.

Global markets

The other top export markets include the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, Japan, Germany, Canada, Australia and Netherlands.

However, Sobreno said despite the growth, the industry is still faced with several issues that the government needs to address.

“Although the government is helping us in trade promotions, they should also look into exerting more effort to bring in foreign buyers in local shows and exhibits because the attendance of these buyers are dwindling,” she said.

She added that most exporters have risked their finances to put up an exhibit abroad just to generate income.

“Whereas, if foreign buyers come here, we could have saved a lot,” she added.

In terms of mass production and labor costs, the industry is competing with other players in the field including China, Vietnam, India and Thailand since they “produce more at a cheaper rate,” Sobreno said.

She is, however, banking on the Cebuano’s creativity, ingenuity and craftsmanship as the country’s “competitive advantages”.

Trend forecast

“The organization has had a surge of renewed participation,” said Cebu-Fame internal vice-president Jefferson Tio.

Tio said the organization received firm support from the Private Enterprise Accelerated Resource Linkages 2 project of the Canadian International Development in improving market intelligence capability.

He added that through the www.wgsn.com website, designers and exporters are able to forecast trends in the fashion industry for the next 18 months.

He added that the website even caters to the market for men’s fashion accessories since “they have become more concerned with their looks and style.”

Tio said the support from foreign funding institutions and other local stakeholders have improved the organization’s market intelligence, productivity and efficiency as well as materials development and sourcing.

Cebu-Fame has 85 members in the province.