India’s gems and jewellery exports in February rose 24 pc year-on-year

India’s gem and jewellery exports witnessed a resurgence in February, supported by a swift recovery of both the Chinese and Middle East markets. In February 2023, the overall gem and jewellery exports witnessed a surge of 24 per cent to Rs 28,832.86 crore as compared to Rs 23,326.8 crore for the same month last year, Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) data showed.

In a breakup, the total gross export of gold jewellery (plain and studded) grew 29.89 per cent to Rs 5,829.65 crore in February, compared to Rs 4,488.3 crore for the same period last year.

For cut and polished diamonds, the exports witnessed a strong growth of 32 per cent to Rs 19,582.4 crore versus Rs 14,841.9 crore in February 2022.

Vipul Shah, Chairman, of GJEPC, partly attributed the surge in cut and polished diamond exports to the strong demand from China and the Lunar New Year festivities.

“Additionally, thanks to the forward-thinking CEPA deal signed with the UAE, there was an equally impressive 45 per cent increase in plain gold jewellery exports, indicating that the Middle East market is rebounding strongly after a slight dip. Furthermore, studded gold jewellery, which is primarily exported to the US, is also showing a promising improvement of around 20 per cent,” Shah said.

“The Hong Kong market had experienced a negative trend in the last few months, but now we’re seeing signs of a rebound. This resurgence in Chinese consumption could potentially lead to even greater improvements. In China, the average savings rate is around 40 per cent, which translates to trillions of dollars that could potentially be spent in a “revenge buying” frenzy, similar to what we’ve seen in other world markets after prolonged lockdown periods. As a result, we anticipate significant growth in the diamond and diamond jewelry industry over the next 6 months.”

Coming to the cumulative exports during April-February 2022-23, the overall gross exports of gems and jewellery witnessed a growth of 5.27 per cent to Rs 278,960.6 crore as compared to Rs 264,994.8 crore for the same period of 2021-22.

Courtesy: ANI Press news