Editor’s Note
**Editor’s Note:** Córdoba’s jewelry sector faces a potential €15 million export loss if the US market closes, with over €272.5 million in total exports at risk amid trade tensions and rising gold prices.
The president of the jewelers’ association warns that war drives up gold prices, which “reduces production.”
Córdoba faces over €272.5 million in exports at risk amid Trump’s trade veto threat.
Gold bullion.
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Efe
E. P.
Córdoba,
March 4, 2026 – 17:56
The president of the Provincial Association of Jewelers, Silversmiths and Watchmakers of Córdoba, San Eloy, Isidoro García-Escribano, has warned that the sector is “being greatly affected by the Iran war” due to “the rise in the price of gold,” which occurs because, in times of uncertainty, “it is a safe-haven asset,” and now its high price “is reducing jewelry production in Córdoba.”
In statements to Europa Press, García-Escribano recalled that “in January 2024, gold was at €60,000 per kilo; in January 2025, it was at €81,000 per kilo; and today it is at €146,000 per kilo.” That is, “in two years” it has risen “tremendously,” and “this reduces the production” of Córdoba’s jewelry companies by “up to 30%,” although their revenue has not fallen as much, since the rise in gold is passed on to jewelry prices.
This decline in production, he argued, is because Córdoba jewelry “is aimed at the middle class, and the price of jewelry has more than doubled.” The consequence is that “production drops, meaning it drops by thousands of pieces.”
Thus, “it may happen that revenue does not drop as much, because the rise in gold means more is sold due to the raw material, but the number of pieces manufactured does drop by between 25% and 30%, and this can very directly affect jobs.”
García-Escribano said he has “no knowledge of layoffs occurring” in Córdoba’s jewelry companies, for now, “but it is true that if thousands fewer pieces are manufactured, perhaps in the not-too-distant future, there will be an excess of workers for that production.”
Regarding the threat from U.S. President Donald Trump to break trade relations with Spain and how this would affect Córdoba’s jewelry exports, García-Escribano recalled that “President Trump often links his political decisions to economic sanctions of some kind,” and “sometimes he carries them out and sometimes he doesn’t.” There is also the question of whether “a trade rupture can materialize solely with Spain, without affecting the European Union (EU).”
In any case, he specified, for Córdoba’s jewelers, “the United States is currently our second-largest client, after France.” Thus, of the “€100 million annually” in jewelry exported from Córdoba, “27%” goes to France and “15%” to the United States. So, if that market were lost, “it would hurt, but it wouldn’t be irreparable.”
This is due to the strategy that the Córdoba Jewelers Association has been following “for some time,” regarding “diversifying and ensuring our jewelry reaches all corners of the world, opening markets where we didn’t have them before.”
An example of this is that, “in the coming months, with the help of Trade, from the Junta de Andalucía, we are going to carry out a direct mission of approximately 30 companies from Córdoba to the Philippines, and immediately after that, we are preparing another to Indonesia.” These countries represent “markets to explore” that “are very interesting for the type of jewelry manufactured in Córdoba.”