Gem & Jewellery exports grow 6.3% in Dec to $2.49 bn

Kolkata: The overall gross export of gems and jewellery remains strong and registered a growth of 6.33 per cent to $2.49 billion during December 2020 as compared to $2.35 billion in the corresponding month of 2019, a senior Gem Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) official said.

In Rupee terms, the sector grew by 9.2 per cent in December 2020 to Rs 18,261 crore.

However, the overall gross exports of the sector remained down by 39.98 per cent to $16.53 billion during AprilDecember 2020 period as compared to $27.54 billion during the same period last year, the official said.

"Exports have recovered sharply in the last two months and if the trend continues the decline in this fiscal year may narrow down to 20-25 per cent. In the early months of the fiscal, the sector was down by over 80 per cent," Gem Jewellery Export Promotion Council chairman Colin Shah said.

Cut and Polished diamond (CPD) exports in December 2020 posted a sharp jump by 38.47 per cent to $1.74 billion as compared to $1.25 billion in the previous years corresponding month. While, for the nine months period CPD exports stayed negative by 27.13 per cent to $10.69 billion.

Gold jewellery exports for the month under review was lower by 35.06 per cent to $0.50 billion compared to $0.77 billion in December 2019.

And for the April-December period gold jewellery exports was down 67.30 per cent to $3.02 billion from $9.23 billion for the first nine months of the previous year, the GJEPC chairman said.

Coloured gemstone exports till December 2020 was also down by 50.26 per cent to $0.12 billion from $0.24 billion of last fiscal.

However, silver jewellery exports from April 2020 to December 2020 stayed robust and grew 50.66 per cent to $1.5 billion over the previous fiscal, he said.

Shah said in Rupee terms the overall gross exports rose 9.27 per cent to Rs 1,8261 crore for the month of December 2020 and for April-December was lower by 36.84 per cent to Rs 1,22,422 crore.

Meanwhile, overall gross import of Gems and Jewellery between April and December 2020 dropped by 46.14 per cent to $9.94 billion from $18.47 billion registered April December 2019.

Moreover, Gold demand appears to be positive in India as the consumer sentiment is likely to recover in 2021, from its dismal performance due to the Coronavirus pandemic-related disruptions and volatile price movement, according to a report by the World Gold Council (WGC).

Initial data about the Dhanteras festival in November suggest that while jewellery demand was still below average, it had substantially recovered from the lows seen in the second quarter (April-June 2020) of last year, according to the

report.

The report, titled 'Gold Outlook 2021- Economic recovery and low interest rates set the tone', also said although global economic growth is likely to remain anaemic relative to its full potential for some time, gold's more stable price performance since mid-August may foster buying opportunities for consumers.