body jewelry

China is the world's foremost producer of body jewelry, accounting for about half of global supply. Exports have been increasing in the past few years and continue to show strong growth: Sales in the first 10 months of 2005 grew more than 50 percent to US$650 million. It is estimated that 70 percent of the country's exports in the line go to OEM and ODM customers. Higher raw material costs and a growing supplier base are intensifying competition in China's body jewelry export industry. The prices of petroleum-based materials have been escalating since2004 because of the higher cost of crude oil in the world market. There has also been a marginal increase in the cost of metal. With sustained and significant increases in material costs, the majority of body jewelry manufacturers in China have had to raise prices at the start of 2005 to offset higher expenses. Although raw material costs are not expected to stabilize in coming months, most manufacturers will not raise prices in 2006. This is particularly true for companies that have already implemented price increases in 2005 and those that have moved up market.