India’s polished diamond exports increase by 21.6%

The Indian diamond industry has seen a spurt in exports and imports of rough and cut & polished diamonds for the period April-September 2008. As reported by the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), the exports of cut and polished diamonds increased by 21.6 percent, while import of cut and polished diamonds increased by 84.6 percent.

The export of roughs jumped by 75.6 percent, while imports of roughs was up by 19 percent.

The overall gem and jewellery trade saw a rise in exports of 16.7 percent to amount to $11billion. The industry clocked a rise of 31.6 percent in imports for the said six months, valuing at $11.6billion. Gold jewellery however did not partake in this increase, rather it suffered a 2.2 percent downslide in exports and % in imports. The fall in gold jewellery trading, as noted by the Council, has been due to the irregular supplies and as medium sized exporters could not purchase gold and supply accordingly.

The growth in the diamond register has been attributed to the fact that most of the diamond exporters are importing their own diamonds from the US back to the country, and then re-assorting them and exporting the same to high demand markets like Belgium. Part of the increase in imports, has also been due to duty being reduced to zero in India.