NEW DELHI: India’s polished diamond exports dived 42 percent year on year to $1.04 billion in January, according to provisional data provided by the nation’s Gem & Jewelry Export Promotion Council. By volume, polished exports slumped 36 percent to 1.8 million carats. Polished imports fell 47 percent to $197.3 million, leaving net polished exports 40 percent lower at $847.5 million.
Rough diamond imports increased 16 percent to $990.6 million during the month compared with a year earlier. Rough exports crept up 0.7 percent to $107.2 million, leaving net rough imports 19 percent higher at $883.4 million.
India’s net diamond account, which is calculated as the difference between net polished exports and net rough imports, declined from positive $675.1 million to negative $35.9 million.
During the month, India imported $4 million worth of rough synthetic stones, most of them diamonds. Polished synthetic imports, meanwhile, totaled $10.4 million and exports were $2.8 million. The latest figures come on the back of an 11-percent decline in India’s polished diamond exports in 2015 as a whole, with rough imports down 22 percent during the year.
