India’s polished-diamond exports rose 2% year on year in June, reflecting a sharp climb in the average price, according to recent data from the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC). The increase follows a 4% jump in shipments for May.

India Trade Data for June 2022

 

	June 2022	Year-on-year change
Polished exports	$2.02B	2%
Polished imports	$121M	31%
Net polished exports	$1.9B	1%
Rough imports	$1.77B	4%
Rough exports	$55M	-4%
Net rough imports	$1.71B	4%
Net diamond account	$185M	-22%
Polished exports: volume	2.1 million carats	-27%
Average price of polished exports	$950/carat	40%
	January-June 2022	Year-on-year change
Polished exports	$12.49B	5%
Polished imports	$723M	-36%
Net polished exports	$11.77B	10%
Rough imports	$9.82B	12%
Rough exports	$414M	15%
Net rough imports	$9.41B	12%
Net diamond account	$2.36B	3%
Polished exports: volume	13.2 million carats	-13%
Average price of polished exports	$946/carat	21%

Source: Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council; Rapaport archives.

About the data: 

India, the world’s largest diamond-cutting center, is a net importer of rough and a net exporter of polished. As such, 

net polished exports

 — representing polished exports minus polished imports — will usually be a positive number. 

Net rough imports

 — calculated as rough imports minus rough exports — will also generally be in surplus. The 

net diamond account

 is total rough and polished exports minus total imports. It is India’s diamond trade balance, and shows the added value the nation creates by manufacturing rough into polished.

Image: Diamond merchants in Mahidharpura, Surat, India, in April 2015. (Shutterstock)