U.S. gold jewellery imports post slowest second-quarter growth since 2012

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. gold jewellery imports rose in the second quarter at the slowest rate in nearly three years, Thomson Reuters GFMS calculations showed on Tuesday, while imports of silver jewellery notched their biggest jump in more than a year.

The jump in silver came on low prices and a strong dollar, said Erica Rannestad, senior analyst of precious metals demand at the GFMS metals analysts team in Thomson Reuters, in Chicago.

U.S. imports of gold jewellery rose 9 percent to 14,792 kilograms (475,573 troy ounces) in the second quarter and in June were up 3 percent from a year ago, rising to 4,205 kg.

"Indian gold jewellery imports rose a healthy 9.5 percent, bucking the trend among the top three import partners," Rannestad said in an email, noting that imports from China and Italy fell.

India is the biggest source of U.S. gold jewellery imports.

Gold prices fell 12 percent in the second quarter from the same period a year ago, largely accounting for the drop in jewellery store sales in terms of value, Rannestad said.

Bullion prices tumbled 6.6 percent in July, the weakest monthly performance in more than two years.

Second-quarter silver jewellery imports rose by 11 percent to 393,073 kg but they fell 3 percent in June from a year ago.

"The decline in silver prices is making for an increasingly price-competitive global market, and it is becoming more difficult for higher-cost players to maintain market share," she said.

Imports from Thailand, the biggest supplier of silver jewellery to the United States and one of the lowest cost jewellery manufacturers, made up 46.3 percent of silver jewellery imports in the second quarter. This is the highest share on record, Rannestad said.

U.S. platinum jewellery imports surged by 39 percent in the second quarter as prices fell to six-year lows.

(Reporting by Marcy Nicholson; Editing by David Gregorio)