Export of cut & polished diamond in April-May decline 16%

Surat: The export of cut and polished diamond in the first two months of the new fiscal year has registered a 16% decline following the dwindling demand and the sharp decrease in the polished diamond prices in the global market.
According to the data released by Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) on Monday, the overall export of cut and polished diamonds in April-May-2019 was at $3.5 billion compared to $4.2 billion during the same month in the previous year. However, the export of diamonds showed 1.4% increase in May at $94 million.
Also, the export of cut and polished diamonds in April-May 2019 from Surat Special Economic Zone (SurSEZ) recorded a decline of 49% at $9 million compared to $18 million in 2018.
Sources said that the global market situation has turned to bad to worse for the diamond industry. The industry is still suffering the aftershocks of the sensational bank fraud committed by Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi.
“The export of cut and polished diamonds from Surat SEZ has declined 49%, which is a huge fall in the new fiscal year after the Nirav Modi scam was exposed,” said an office-bearer of GJEPC.
He added, “The overall export of polished diamonds has been greatly impacted due to the dwindling demand, increase prices of rough diamonds and liquidity issue in the local market due to bank squeezing bank credit.”