Top U.S. Import Sources
of Precious Metal Jewelry

Please keep in mind that these figures include all metal jewelry including Sterling Silver Jewelry. However, I seriously doubt they would change (with one caveat being Bali Indonesia) if the breakdowns for just Silver Jewelry were available. Or more to the point.....If I could find them.

1. India - Surging to the lead in just the last couple of years. YTD growth over 2005 + 31%

2. China - This should not be much of a surprise to most. YTD growth over 2005 + 25.2%

3. Italy - In 2000 they were far and away the industry leader. They have been loosing market share since. The introduction of the Euro? YTD decline from 2005 - 2.6%

4. Thailand - They continued to increase exports consistently over the last 10 years. YTD growth over 2005 + 17.4%

5. Mexico - Mexico nearly doubled exports in 2005 over 2004. However, with the huge jump in the price of Silver this year shipments were much more difficult to obtain. More than one large importer told me Mexican manufacturers were holding the Silver Bullion and playing the market. YTD - decline from 2005 - 15.5%

Whoops! What happened to ( 5 )? Hong Kong is five and most of their jewelry production is in 18K Gold. The majority of that is being produced on the Mainland and shipped from Hong Kong.

(12) Indonesia - I'm fairly certain that Bali Indonesia would be higher on the list if we were only discussing .925 Sterling Silver Jewelry imports. YTD growth over 2005 + 37.5%.

If you found the above information interesting and care to take a look at the top 25 sources here is the link.
http://www.ita.doc.gov/td/ocg/imp3911.htm