INDIA’S POLISHED DIAMOND EXPORTS, ROUGH IMPORTS WELL OFF 2018 PACE

India’s exports of cut and polished diamonds in October declined by 15.4% year-on-year to $1.95 billion as compared to $2.30 billion in October 2018, according to the provisional data released by The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) of India. The $1.95 billion is the same amount exported in September, which represented an 18% decline from the year prior. The volume of polished diamonds exported declined 8% to 2.8 million carats, as the average price per carat for the month fell 22% to $689 per carat. For the fiscal year to date (April - Oct. 2019), polished diamond exports have fallen 18% to $12 billion from $15 exported over the same period last year. For the calendar year to date, they are down 15% at $18.2 billion. The average price per carat for the year to date (Jan.- Oct.) has only declined 4% to $755 per carat.

Rough imports during the month of October fell by 20% to $796 million from $990 million during the previous October. In volume terms, rough imports increased marginally by 2% to 9.9 million carats in October 2019 from 9.7 mcts during October 2018. For the fiscal year to date, imports of rough diamonds have declined by more than 22% in value to $7.3 billion from $9.4 billon during the same period a year earlier. For the calendar year to date, the value of rough-diamond imports has lost 23% to $11 billion. In volume terms, India has imported 10% fewer rough goods, falling to 85 million carats for the first seven months of the fiscal year from 94 mcts in the same period last year.