The absence of buying due to the holiday season in the US and other major export markets in December has had a negative impact on shipments of cut and polished diamonds during the month.

Exports of cut and polished diamonds in December declined by 30 per cent year-on-year in rupee terms and 40 per cent in dollar terms. In volume terms, exports fell by 31 per cent, to 36.38 lakh carats.

“December was a vacation period; so not much buying took place. Much of the Christmas buying took place in September, October and November,” Mr Sanjay Kothari, Vice-Chairman, Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, said.

Exports of cut and polished diamonds during December 2011 were down at Rs 7,875 crore compared with Rs 11,255 crore in the same period year-ago, data from GJEPC showed.

Demand for diamonds was much more subdued in 2011 compared with the previous year, exporters said.

Also, export demand from Europe continues to remain slack as many of the euro zone nations are battling sovereign debt crises.

Exports of cut and polished diamonds from India during the nine-month period of April-December 2011 were also lower by 3 per cent in rupee terms and 5 per cent in dollar terms. India shipped diamonds worth Rs 83,714 crore in April-December compared with Rs 86,448 crore in the same period a year ago.

Export of diamonds is expected to pick up in the fourth quarter of the year (2011-12) but a clear picture would emerge in the coming weeks, exporters said.

Rough diamond imports during December was down in volume terms but up in rupee terms by 21 per cent to Rs 6,882 crore. Imports during April-December were also down in volume terms at 923 lakh carats compared with 1,176 lakh carats in the same period year-ago. But in value terms, they were up by 33 per cent at Rs 52,487 crore.

Gold Robust

But gold jewellery exports saw robust growth during December. In rupee terms, they grew by 64 per cent on year to Rs 4,099.7 crore and in dollar terms by 41 per cent to $778.37 million.

For the April-December period, gold jewellery exports grew by 37 per cent in rupee terms to Rs 32,268 crore and in dollar terms by 32 per cent to $6,812 million.

During the same period, silver jewellery exports moved up by 43 per cent to Rs 2,531 crore, partly due to the low base effect.

For an industry that has been witnessing subdued demand for diamonds, the hope now lies in gold and silver jewellery. This segment is a major growth area for the industry, Mr Rajiv Jain, Chairman, GJEPC, had said earlier.

Another segment that is showing promise is coloured gemstones, exports of which grew by 101 per cent (to Rs 150 crore) in December and by 30 per cent (to Rs 1,157 crore) in the April-December period.

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