India's Polished Imports Slashed by 82% in July, Exports Down by Half

(IDEX Online News) – Less than a year after the Indian Government slapped a 2 percent tax on polished diamond imports, and the ramifications are still echoing in the country's trade figures. Gross polished diamond exports fell 46.9 percent to $998 million in July.

The tax set to curb the practice of round-tripping, exporting and then importing the same goods three or four times to inflate a company's export figures to receive a larger bank credit line, which is provided against exports.

However, the tax that was put into place in January is not the only reason for the year-over-year decline. Global demand for diamonds and diamond jewelry was relatively weak this summer.

The volume of gross exports fell 45 percent to 2.5 million carats. The average value of exports stood at $402.11 per carat (p/c), declining 8.3 percent, based on preliminary figures published by GJEPC.

Polished diamond imports were slashed 81.5 percent to just $264.5 million.