Portugal desapareceu da lista dos 30 principais mercados de destino da relojoaria suíça

Depois de décadas incluído entre os 20 principais mercados de destino da relojoaria helvética, Portugal, um dos seus mais históricos consumidores, foi relegado há década e meia para os últimos lugares dos 30 primeiros. Como antevíamos, 2021 é o ano que terá visto definitivamente o desaparecimento do mercado português dos 30 principais clientes de relógios suíços. É todo um ciclo que chega ao fim. O país é cada vez mais encarado como uma mera região da Península Ibérica (para não dizer de Espanha).

Os dados de Março e do primeiro trimestre, segundo a Federação Relojoeira:

Swiss watch exports recorded a very steep rise in March, as expected. The marked decline in watch exports in March 2020 (-21.7%) due to the almost universal lockdown resulted inevitably in a low basis for comparison. Last month, performance increased by 37.2% compared with March 2020, to 1.9 billion Swiss francs. Compared with the 2019 baseline, the month-on-month change was +7.4%. The first quarter saw growth of 6.6% compared with 2020 and a very slight decline (-1.3%) compared with 2019.

The month’s performance was supported by all groups of materials, particularly steel and precious metals, which together generated over 80% of the growth in value. The number of watches exported logically followed the same trend, increasing by +33.7%, to 1.2 million items. This was the first increase in over 30 months. The Steel and Other metals categories grew most strongly, while the Other materials group declined.

All price segments contributed to growth, with rates of change varying from +40% to +60% for watches priced below 3,000 Swiss francs (export price). Watches priced at over 3,000 francs saw their export value increase by 30.7%. Out of the 30 main markets for Swiss watch exports in March, only Japan (-11.1%) posted a decline. China (+100.5%) continued to drive growth, doubling its results compared with March 2020. It was also significantly above its 2019 level (+121.5%). The United States (+12.8%) and Singapore (+21.7%) also exceeded their 2019 levels. Conversely, Hong Kong (+30.1%), the United Arab Emirates (+10.3%) and all of Europe (+45.6%) remained below this baseline, in spite of a steady increase compared with March 2020. Depending on the market, a sharp increase does not yet mean a return to normal, but only a partial offsetting of the significant declines suffered last year. This phenomenon will be exacerbated over the next few months.