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RAPAPORT… India’s polished-diamond exports registered their eighth consecutive year-on-year increase as the market continued to rebound, according to recent data from the country’s Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC). Shipments more than doubled to $2 billion in June 2021 versus $898.3 million a year earlier, when the Covid-19 crisis was still affecting the sector. Rough imports also jumped sharply following strong sales at the month’s De Beers sight.
India Trade Data for June 2021
| June 2021 | Year-on-year change | |
| Polished exports | $2B | 123% |
| Polished imports | $89M | -54% |
| Net polished exports | $1.91B | 171% |
| Rough imports | $1.7B | 461% |
| Rough exports | $57M | 82% |
| Net rough imports | $1.64B | 504% |
| Net diamond account | $269M | -38% |
| Polished exports: volume | 2.9 million carats | 144% |
| Average price of polished exports | $687/carat | -9% |
| January-June 2021 | Year-on-year change | |
| Polished exports | $11.98B | 106% |
| Polished imports | $1.12B | 18% |
| Net polished exports | $10.86B | 124% |
| Rough imports | $8.77B | 170% |
| Rough exports | $272M | 2% |
| Net rough imports | $8.5B | 185% |
| Net diamond account | $2.36B | 26% |
| Polished exports: volume | 15.2 million carats | 97% |
| Average price of polished exports | $789/carat | 5% |
Source: Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council; Rapaport archives.
About the data: India, the world’s largest diamond-cutting center, is a net importer of rough and a net exporter of polished. As such, net polished exports — representing polished exports minus polished imports — will usually be a positive number. Net rough imports — calculated as rough imports minus rough exports — will also generally be in surplus. The net diamond account is total rough and polished exports minus total imports. It is India’s diamond trade balance, and shows the added value the nation creates by manufacturing rough into polished.
Image: Diamond cutters in Surat, India. (Shutterstock)
