India’s gross exports of cut and polished diamonds dipped significantly below last year’s levels due to the impact of Covid-19, declining by 40.92% during the month of February 2020, according to provisional data released by The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC). Gold jewellery (plain and studded) exports however registered positive growth in the same period.

During February 2020, cut and polished diamond exports totalled US$ 1.38 billion (February 2019: US$ 2.34 bn) and gold jewellery (plain and studded) exports stood at US$ 1.20 billion as against US$ 920.35 million in the same month a year earlier, the data indicated.

Rough imports during the month remained positive, rising by 6.34% to US$ 1.47 billion as compared to US$ 1.38 billion imported during the previous February.

Imports of cut and polished diamonds rose to US$ 249.22 mn in February 2020 from US$ 93.58 mn in the same month a year earlier.

Exports of rough diamonds totalled US$ 76.56 million in February 2020 as compared to US$ 124.06 mn a year earlier.

Exports of polished lab-grown diamonds stood at US$ 37.05 mn during the month as against US$ 23.35 mn a year earlier.

Imports of rough lab grown diamonds stood at US$ 25.47 mn during the month, up from US$ 9.40 mn a year ago, while imports of polished lab grown diamonds declined to US$ 6.04 mn in February 2020 as compared to US$ 12.95 mn a year earlier.

Exports of silver jewellery rose to US$ 236.15 million in February 2020 as compared to US$ 78.02 million in the same month last year.

Coloured gemstone exports fell to US$ 17.34 million in February 2020 as compared to US$ 48.79 million exported during the same month a year earlier.

For the first eleven months of the current fiscal, total gross exports of the gems and jewellery industry stood at US$ 33.63 billion as compared to US$ 36.19 billion in the same period of the previous year, a decline of 7.08%. Imports across the sector during first eleven months of fiscal 2020 were down 3.30% from US$ 23.84 billion last year to US$ 23.05 billion this year.

Polished diamond exports during April ’19 – February ‘20 were down 19.38% to US$ 17.70 bn as against the US$ 21.95 bn exported over the same months last year, while imports of polished diamonds rose by 21.04% to US$ 1.47 billion as compared to US$ 1.22 billion for the same period of the previous year.

During the fiscal year to date, import of rough diamonds showed a decline of 13.43% to US$ 12.39 bn from US$ 14.31 bn a year earlier.

In April ’19 – Feb ‘20, exports of gold jewellery (both plain and studded) rose by 6.46% to US$ 11.41 bn as against US$ 10.72 bn during the first eleven months of the previous fiscal.

Exports of rough diamonds totalled US$ 1.03 billion in April ’19 – Feb ’20 as compared to US$ 1.15 bn a year earlier. Meanwhile, exports of rough lab grown diamonds stood at US$ 7.18 mn in April ’19 – Feb ’20 as against US$ 13.42 mn in the same period a year earlier. Exports of polished lab-grown diamonds stood at US$ 393.21 mn during the April ’19 – Feb ’20 period as against US$ 195.44 mn a year earlier.

Imports of rough lab grown diamonds stood at US$ 318.60 mn in the first eleven months of the fiscal, up from imports of US$ 123.66 mn a year ago, while imports of polished lab grown diamonds rose to US$ 92.51 mn in April ’19 – Feb ’20 as compared to US$ 85.88 mn a year earlier.

Exports of silver jewellery rose steeply to US$ 1,459.39 million from US$ 764.70 mn a year ago, and Coloured Gemstones exports dropped to US$ 307.25 million in April ’19 – Feb ’20 as compared to exports of US$ 369.23 mn in the same months a year earlier.