India’s jewellery exports down 5 percent in April-July

By

Maverick Martins

Published
Sep 4, 2018

India’s gems and jewellery exports have taken a hit due to a slowdown in the international markets plummeting 5 percent to $10.64 billion during the April-July period.

The total gems and jewellery exports during the April-July period for the previous year stood at $11.2 billion, according to data by industry body, Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).
 
GJEPC attributed the decline in exports to negative growth in the export of silver jewellery, gold medallions and coins, along with a rise in the return of consignments.

As per the data, silver jewellery shipments during April-July 2018 dipped by 91 percent to $172 million while export of gold medallions, and coins contracted by 87 percent during the period under review. Shipments of rough diamonds also reported a negative growth of 12 percent.
 
Interestingly, exports of cut and polished diamonds grew by 10 percent to $8.2 billion in the first four months of the fiscal.
 
“Exporters are optimistic that from September, things will start improving as there will be a good demand on account of NRI’s Diwali, Christmas, and Thanksgiving in the US,” GJEPC said in a statement.
 
Last year, India’s gems and jewellery exports had fallen by 9 percent as demand from the UAE market had slowed down by 27 percent due to the implementation of value-added tax (VAT) by the UAE government.
 
The total gems and jewellery export for the year 2017-18 stood at Rs 2,64,131 crore.