India’s polished diamond export dips 20% in September; rough import up by 16%

Exports of rough diamonds totalled $ 77.67 mn in Sept 2020 as compared to $51.03 mn in Sept 2019, an increase of 52.21 per cent. Exports of polished lab-grown diamonds recorded $ 79.69 mn in Sept 2020 against $ 42.04 mn in Sept 2019, an increase of 89.55 per cent.
Rough imports during Sept 2020 increased 16.18 per cent to $ 1347.30 mn as compared to $ 1159.63 mn imported during Sept 2019. Imports of cut and polished diamonds increased to $ 267.77mn in Sept 2020 from $ 122.72 mn in the same month in 2019, an increase of 117.59 per cent.
Imports of rough lab-grown diamonds stood at $ 74.32 mn in Sept 2020, up 166.31 per cent from $ 27.91 mn in Sept 2019. Imports of polished lab-grown diamonds dipped 53.04 per cent to $ 6.05 mn in Sept 2020 as compared to $ 12.89 mn a year earlier.
During the fiscal year (April- Sept 2020) polished diamond exports were down to $ 5501 mn from $ 8666.43 mn exported over the same months in 2019, a decrease of 36.52 per cent.
Exports of rough diamonds totalled $ 59.43 mn in April-Sept 2020 compared to $ 487.15 mn a year earlier, down 67.27 per cent.
Exports of polished lab-grown diamonds totalled $ 207 mn during the April-Sept 2020 period up 14.59 per cent as against exports of $ 181.02 mn in the same period a year earlier.
Import of rough diamonds showed a decline of 56.65 per cent recording $ 2557.56 mn during Apl- Sept 2020 from $ 5899.47 mn during April- Sept in 2019.
Imports of polished diamonds increased 58.80 per cent to $ 950.36 mn during April- Sept 2020, as compared to $ 598.47 mn for the same period in 2019. Imports of rough lab-grown diamonds recorded $ 187.73 mn in April- Sept 2020 as against $ 138.02 mn in the same period in 2019, an increase of 36.01 per cent. Imports of polished lab-grown diamonds declined to $ 17.79 mn in April- Sept 2020 as compared to $ 42.93 mn during April-Sept 2019, down 58.57 per cent.

Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished