India’s gross exports of cut and polished diamonds continued to dip significantly below last year’s levels, registering a decline of 25.13% year on year, while gold jewellery exports were up by 21.07%, according to provisional data released by The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).

During November, cut and polished diamond exports totalled US$ 1.17 billion (November 2018: US$ 1.56 bn) and gold jewellery (plain and studded) exports stood at US$ 1,147.50 million as against US$ 947.85 million in the same month a year ago, the data indicated.

Rough imports during the month however, rose by 32.44% to US$ 1,230.74 million as compared to US$ 929.26 million imported during the previous November. In volume terms, too, rough imports moved up by 19.55% from 12.69 mn carats during November 2018 to 15.17 mn carats in November 2019.

Imports of cut and polished diamonds rose to US$ 117.85 mn in November 2019 from US$ 65.19 mn in the same month a year earlier.

Exports of rough diamonds totalled US$ 94.51 million in November 2019 as compared to US$ 88.04 mn a year earlier. Exports of polished lab-grown diamonds stood at US$ 21.80 mn during the month as against US$ 10.25 mn a year earlier.

Imports of rough lab grown diamonds stood at US$ 33.16 mn during the month, up from US$ 9.66 mn a year ago, while imports of polished lab grown diamonds rose to US$ 9.79 mn in November 2019 as compared to US$ 3.44 mn a year earlier.

Exports of silver jewellery rose to US$ 128.97 million in November 2019 as compared to US$ 89.01 million in the same month last year.

Coloured gemstone exports dipped to US$ 21.23 million in November 2019 as compared to US$ 25.84 million exported during the same month a year earlier.

For the first eight months of the current fiscal, total gross exports of the gems and jewellery industry stood at US$ 25.25 billion as compared to US$ 26.75 billion in the same period of the previous year, a decline of 5.61%. Imports across the sector during first eight months of fiscal 2020 were down 6.80% from US$ 17.37 billion last year to US$ 16.19 billion this year.

Polished diamond exports during April-November 2019 were down 18.96% to US$ 13.41 bn as against the US$ 16.55 bn exported over the same months last year, while imports of polished diamonds fell by 1.54% to US$ 911.68 million as compared to US$ 925.90 million for the same period of the previous year.

During the fiscal year to date, import of rough diamonds showed a decline of 17.24% to US$ 8.55 bn from US$ 10.34 bn a year earlier. In volume terms, imports fell by 6.41% from 107.0 mn cts in April-November 2018 to 100.14 mn cts in the same period in the current fiscal.

In April-November 2019, exports of gold jewellery (both plain and studded) rose by 5.30% to US$ 8.53 bn as against US$ 8.10 bn during the first eight months of the previous fiscal.

Exports of rough diamonds totalled US$ 807.97 million in April-November 2019 as compared to US$ 824.21 mn a year earlier, while exports of rough lab grown diamonds stood at US$ 6.82 mn in April-November 2019 as against US$ 6.70 mn in the same period a year earlier. Exports of polished lab-grown diamonds stood at US$ 276.05 mn during the April-November 2019 period as against US$ 133.94 mn a year earlier.

Imports of rough lab grown diamonds stood at US$ 116.61 mn in the first eight months of the fiscal, up from imports of US$ 85.07 mn a year ago, while imports of polished lab grown diamonds rose to US$ 153.83 mn in April-November 2019 as compared to US$ 45.73 mn a year earlier.

Exports of silver jewellery rose steeply to US$ 870.24 million from US$ 502.65 mn a year ago, and Coloured Gemstones exports dropped to US$ 228.81 million in April-November 2019 as compared to exports of US$ 256.34 mn in the same months a year earlier.