Gems, jewellery exports dip 5.30% in FY16 on weak int'l demand

Gems and jewellery exports have declined by 5.30 per cent during 2015-16 financial year to Rs 2.09 lakh crore compared to the previous year mainly due to weak international demand and high rough diamond prices.
The exports stood at Rs 22.13 lakh crore during 2014-15, according to the data compiled by Gem Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).
"The decline in exports was mainly affected by slowdown in Europe, Japan and China. However, the US was picking up slowly, which narrowed the declining gap. High rough diamond prices is another reason for the decline in exports," GJEPC Chairman Praveenshankar Pandya told reporters here.

Rough prices are edging upwards and the sluggish global demand has created inventory pile-up, he said.
Going forward, in this financial year, 10 per cent growth is expected in exports of cut and polished diamond as well as jewellery as the international markets are picking, especially Japan, Europe and the US.
"We are expecting exports in the same level as 2014-15. However, we have not yet calculated on the overall gems and jewellery exports as yet, which also include silver jewellery, costume jewellery, synthetic stones among others," he said.

Pandya said for the first time the export of cut and polished diamonds has shown a huge decline of 13 per cent during 2015-16, in comparison to the previous year.

Even slow demand has led to the fall in rough diamond import by 16 per cent in 2015-16 for the first time, he said.
On the challenges faced by the industry, Pandya said due to lack of job work policy in the country, global diamond manufacturers or producers are sending their raw materials to China, where it is already in place, for manufacturing, in-spite of labour being around 20 per cent expensive than in India, he said.
He also pointed out that small and medium exporters are still facing issues in procurement of duty free gold from the nominated agencies or banks across the country.