Turkey's jewelry exports reach $825 million in first quarter

Turkey exported $300 million and $825 million worth of jewelry in March and in the first quarter of the year, respectively, the Jewelry Exporters' Association announced yesterday.

The highest jewelry exports, totaling $119.8 million, were made to Near and Mideast Asian countries last month, followed by the EU at $50.2 million, Asia at $41.9 million, North America at $31.4 million and North Africa at $25.5 million.

Jewelry exports totaling $83.7 were made to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last month, with a 131 percent upsurge, followed by the U.S. at $29.7 million with a 20 percent rise, Hong Kong at $26.1 million with a 34 percent rise, Libya at $20.2 million with a 100 percent rise, Israel at $14.6 million, Germany at $10.8 million and Iraq at $9.6 million.

Meanwhile, 68 percent of the $300 million worth of exports carried out in March was obtained from golden jeweler and goldsmith goods, with 21 percent from rough or semi-processed gold, 4 percent from silver jeweler and goldsmith goods, 3 percent from diamond and gold jeweler's goods and parts, and 2 percent from the debris and residue of precious metals or metals coated with precious metals.

On a quarterly basis, jewelry exports amounted to $825 million in the first three months of the year.

Underlining that the jewelry industry is a strategic industry and must be declared so, Jewelry Exporters' Association Chairman Mustafa Kamar recalled that the association carried out $4.4 billion worth of exports in 2018. He added that the jewelry industry was named one of the two industries achieving the highest rise in exports in 2018 with a 35 percent rise, continuing: "In the first three months of 2019, we achieved an upward momentum, particularly on a kilogram basis. Even though there seems to be a decrease on a value basis due to economic fluctuations in March, there is an increase of 26 percent on a quantity basis. We are continuing to work to contribute more to national exports."