Swiss Watch Exports Flat On The Year In August
September 28, 14(IDEX Online News) – Swiss watch exports were almost unchanged on the year in August at $1.569 billion (1.493 billion Swiss francs).
The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said there had been a decline on a year before of 0.2 percent in August which was “one of the weakest months of the year for watch exports”.
“The trend of wrist watch exports was more favorable than that of other products, although the variation was very small,” the Federation commented.
“Their value rose by 0.6 percent thanks in particular to bimetal, steel and platinum watches. In terms of the number of pieces the changes were more significant in both the upward and downward direction which offset each other overall.”
The representative body said that only one price segment which reported a strong rise were watches with an export price of between 200 and 500 francs. They posted growth of 7 percent. Meanwhile, other price ranges remained unchanged from their August 2013 level.
“The trend of the main markets varied considerably with rises on the one hand compensated by falls on the other. Hong Kong declined for the fourth month in a row. The United States reported a distinct increase.
“China continued its gradual recovery thanks to strong growth in August. Japan achieved another month of sustained growth. The situation in Europe also varied considerably: Germany declined steeply while France posted double-digit growth.”