Surat’s diamond trade rebounds as India’s gem and jewellery exports climb 26% in June

Surat, the hub of India’s diamond cutting and polishing industry, is seeing renewed momentum after its gem and jewellery exports posted a robust recovery in June. Gross exports jumped 26% year-on-year to $2.2 billion, up from $1.7 billion a year earlier, defying geopolitical tensions and subdued global consumer sentiment.

The recovery was broad-based, spanning stabilising natural diamond prices, a rise in lab-grown diamond exports and strong demand for gold jewellery. Cut and polished diamond (CPD) exports, the category most closely tied to Surat’s cutting and polishing units, rose 8.7% to $847 million from $779 million a year ago.

Lab-grown diamonds continued their rapid expansion, with polished LGD exports surging 52% in June to $101 million and rising 14% during the April-June quarter to $296 million. Dinesh Navadiya, chairman of the Indian Diamond Institute, said stabilising natural diamond prices are reviving confidence across the trade, and that the strong growth in studded jewellery exports is also benefiting the diamond cutting and polishing industry.

Gold jewellery emerged as the biggest growth driver overall, with June exports soaring 54% to $1.087 billion. Studded gold jewellery exports surged 85% to $634 million, while plain gold jewellery exports rose 25% to $454 million. Silver and platinum jewellery also recorded strong gains, with silver jewellery exports nearly doubling during the quarter.

The April-June quarter as a whole was more subdued, with overall exports steady at $6.6 billion and CPD exports for the quarter dipping 4% to $2.7 billion. On the import side, rough diamond imports fell 27% in June to $700 million from $961 million, and plunged 32% to $2.1 billion for the quarter, with volumes down 15% to 228 lakh carats from 270 lakh carats — a decline industry sources say should help balance supply and support prices for cut and polished diamonds.

Wikimedia Commons/by Theminimalcarbon