Double Digit Cut in India's Rough Diamond Imports in October

(IDEX Online News) – India continued to decrease its rough diamond trade in October. The center lowered its net rough diamond imports to $544.1 million, a 31.1 percent decline compared to September.

Most Indian traders were away on Diwali vacation during October. Joined by a feeling of uncertainty over amount of upcoming business, traders had little incentive to shop for rough diamonds.

The volume of net rough diamond imports stood at 2.97 million carats, falling 42 percent compared with September, based on provisional figures released by the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council.

Gross imports of 5.25 million carats worth $686.2 million are a 41.3 percent drop in volume and 21.8 percent in value compared to last year. Compared to September, gross imports declined by 35.2 percent in volume and 26.7 percent by value.

Exports of rough witnessed a reverse trend, growing 78.5 percent to $142.2 million as the volume of trade increased by a third to 2.28 million carats.