India’s polished diamond exports rose by 6.58% during the six-month period ended September 30, 2018 (H1 FY 2018-19) despite a dip of 10.78% in exports during the month of September, according to provisional data released by The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).

Overall exports from the gem and jewellery sector during H1 were also down 2.49%, the data showed.

Total gem and jewellery exports for the month of September stood at US$ 3,440.88 million as compared to US$ 4,270.94 million a year earlier, registering a decline of 19.44% while total imports at US$ 1,976.08 million declined by 19.65% as compared to US$ 2,459.36 million for the same month during the previous year.

Exports of cut and polished diamonds from India during the month dropped to US$ 2.37 billion from US$ 2.65 bn in September 2017, a decrease of 10.78% y-o-y. Rough imports dipped by 14.49% in value terms during the month to US$ 1.25 billion as compared to US$ 1.47 billion imported during the previous September. In volume terms, rough imports increased from 15.72 mn carats during September 2017 to 16.10 mn carats during September this year.

Imports of cut and polished diamonds were down by 6.56% to US$ 162.86 mn in September 2018 from US$ 174.29 mn a year earlier.

Exports of gold jewellery (both studded and plain) during the month declined by 16.72% to US$ 830.35 million from US$ 997.01 mn a year earlier. Exports of silver jewellery dropped to US$ 75.15 million in September 2018 as compared to US$ 367.71 million in the same month last year.

Coloured gemstone exports rose slightly in September 2018 to US$ 60.77 million as compared to US$ 58.27 million exported during the same month a year earlier.

For the first six months of the fiscal year 2018-19, overall gem and jewellery exports now stand at US$ 20.23 billion, a decline of 2.49% as compared to US$ 20.75 bn during the same period last year. Imports in the sector for the same period were down 7% from US$ 15.09 billion last year to US$ 14.04 billion this year.

Polished diamond exports during April-September 2018 were up 6.58% to US$ 12.68 bn as against the US$ 11.90 bn exported over the same months last year, while imports of polished diamonds fell by 36.21% to US$ 768.60 million as compared to US$ 1,204.97 million for the same period of previous year.

During the fiscal year to date, import of rough diamonds showed a decline of 8.14% to US$ 8.42 bn from US$ 9.16 bn a year earlier. In volume terms, imports fell by 7.03% from 91.05 mn cts in April-September 2017 to 84.66 mn cts in the same period this year.

In April-September 2018, exports of gold jewellery (both plain and studded) rose to US$ 6.06 bn as against US$ 3.80 bn during the first six months of the previous fiscal.

Exports of synthetic stones during April-September 2018 were US$ 97.73 mn, with synthetic diamonds (HS 71049010) accounting for US$ 95.65 mn as compared to US$ 99.39 mn during the comparative period a year earlier.

Exports of gold medallions & coins declined by 87.2% to US$ 201.81 million in the six-month period, while silver jewellery exports dropped by 87% to US$ 314.13 million, and Coloured Gemstones exports were down by 2.35% at US$ 206.89 million in April-September 2018.