Overall exports from the gem and jewellery industry dropped by 10.38% in July 2019, reaching US$ 2.22 billion as against US$ 2.48 billion in July 2018, according to provisional data released by The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).

While cut and polished diamond exports declined by 18.29% year-on-year totalling US$ 1.50 billion during the month (July 2018: US$ 1.84 bn), gold jewellery (plain and studded) exports were down by 5.78% y-o-y touching US$ 963 million during the same month as against US$ 1,022.2 billion a year ago, the data indicated.

Rough imports during the month fell by 34.24% to US$ 1.10 billion as compared to US$ 1.67 billion imported during the previous July. In volume terms also, rough imports fell from 13.02 mn carats during July 2018 to 11.74 mn carats in July 2019.

Imports of cut and polished diamonds declined 14.42% to US$ 114.01 mn in July 2019 from US$ 133.22 mn in the same month a year earlier.

Exports of rough diamonds totalled US$ 93.20 million in July 2019 as compared to US$ 99.97 mn a year earlier, while exports of rough lab grown diamonds stood at US$ 2.92 million in July 2019. Exports of polished lab-grown diamonds stood at US$ 34.57 mn during the month as against US$ 15.49 mn a year earlier.

Imports of rough lab grown diamonds stood at US$ 12.70 mn, down from US$ 13.17 mn a year ago, while imports of polished lab grown diamonds rose to US$ 20.78 mn in July 2019 as compared to US$ 4.92 mn a year earlier.

Exports of silver jewellery rose to US$ 85.81 million in July 2019 as compared to US$ 46.05 million in the same month last year.

Coloured gemstone exports fell marginally to US$ 18.14 million in July 2019 as compared to US$ 18.52 million exported during the same month a year earlier.

For the first four months of the current fiscal, total net exports of the gems and jewellery industry declined by 8.48% as compared to the same period a year earlier from US$ 10.61 billion during April-July 2018 to US$ 9.71 billion in the same period of the current year. Imports across the sector during first quarter of fiscal 2020 were down 19.89% from US$ 10.51 billion last year to US$ 8.25 billion this year.

Polished diamond exports during April-July 2019 were down 17.54% to US$ 6.70 bn as against the US$ 8.13 bn exported over the same months last year, while imports of polished diamonds fell by 18.53% to US$ 392.48 million as compared to US$ 481.77 million for the same period of the previous year.

During the fiscal year to date, import of rough diamonds showed a decline of 28.03% to US$ 4.51 bn from US$ 6.26 bn a year earlier. In volume terms, imports fell by 21.74% from 60.80 mn cts in April-July 2018 to 47.58 mn cts in the same period in the current fiscal.

In April-July 2019, exports of gold jewellery (both plain and studded) dipped to US$ 4.09 bn as against US$ 4.29 bn during the first four months of the previous fiscal.

Exports of rough diamonds totalled US$ 443.82 million in April-July 2019 as compared to US$ 401.98 mn a year earlier, while exports of rough lab grown diamonds stood at US$ 5.84 mn in April-July 2019. Exports of polished lab-grown diamonds stood at US$ 120.90 mn during the same period as against US$ 64.09 mn a year earlier.

Imports of rough lab grown diamonds stood at US$ 49.60 mn in the first four months of the fiscal, marginally higher than the US$ 42.01 mn a year ago, while imports of polished lab grown diamonds rose to US$ 70.78 mn in April-July 2019 as compared to US$ 23.10 mn a year earlier.

Exports of silver jewellery nearly doubled to US$ 332.85 million, and Coloured Gemstones exports fell by 10.17% to US$ 104.27 million in April-July 2019.