Plain gold jewellery exports up by 61.72% to $6792.24 million in FY24, UAE emerges as a significant market
Exports of plain gold jewellery has surged by 61.72 per cent to $6792.24 million in FY 2023-24 as compared to $4199.96 million in FY 2022-23, said The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) in a report.
It further added that the total gold jewellery (plain & studded jewellery), which experienced a 10.47 per cent decline between April 2023 to September 2023, rebounded strongly in the latter half of the year, achieving a growth of 46.91 per cent.
In terms of markets, the UAE emerged as a significant market for plain gold jewellery exports from India, experiencing a growth of 107.2 per cent to reach $4,528.66 million in FY 2023-24, in comparison to $2,185.67 million in the previous year. Markets of UAE and Bahrain accounted for over 85 per cent of India’s plain gold jewellery exports. Australia also witnessed a growth of 37 per cent in plain gold jewellery exports attributing its growth to the India-Australia ECTA.
Vipul Shah, Chairman, GJEPC, said, “The increase in plain gold jewellery exports may be attributed to the pragmatic foreign trade agreements by the Govt. The implementation of India-UAE CEPA couldn’t have come at a better time, especially when the industry faced various challenges with economic downturns in major export markets and escalating geopolitical concerns, all of which led to the decline in demand.”
Gross export of total gold Jewellery (both Plain & Studded) for FY24 was up 16.75 per cent at $11230.18 million over the comparative figure of $9618.80 million for previous year.
“GJEPC has been actively working with the Government to implement favourable policies in the forthcoming trade agreements, notably those with GCC, Canada, UK, and EU. I am confident that this proactive engagement will have a positive impact on the exports of gem and jewellery to these nations in the coming months,” Vipul Shah added.
The overall gross exports of Gems & Jewellery in FY24 declined by 14.45 per cent to $32285.85 million as against $37737.05 million in the preceding period.
“The point to be noted here is the decline in gross gem and jewellery exports, which stood at 25.04 per cent in the first half of the financial year, narrowed to just 1.60 per cent in the second half, showcasing the industry’s resilience and ability to bounce back even in challenging times,” said Vipul Shah, while adding that the year has been challenging for exports owing to the high interest costs, inflation and slackening of market demand in the USA and lower growth in China after Covid hit the Gem & Jewellery industry hard in first half of the year. Also, the Ukraine war and uncertainty on import of rough diamonds from Russia worsened the scenario.
“With the objective to tap and penetrate new markets, GJEPC made concerted efforts to explore new markets through delegations to Vietnam, Cambodia, etc. and now a delegation to Latin American countries is planned in May to give fillip to exports,” said Vipul Shah.
Meanwhile, Cut & Polished diamond exports in FY 2023-24 declined by 27.58 per cent to $15967.02 million compared to $22047.72 million in the previous year. “The diamond industry’s decision to voluntarily halt natural rough diamond imports from October 15th to December 15th, 2023, helped address demand-supply imbalances and resulted in a positive impact on the prices of polished diamonds as we entered the Q4 of the financial year,” Vipul Shah said.
Per GJEPC, despite experiencing sluggish demand for cut and polished diamonds from key export markets such as the USA, Hong Kong, and UAE, they still accounted for significant exports: $5,598.81 million, $4,360.30 million, and $1,714.39 million respectively. “GJEPC is discussing with Global Diamond miners to increase investments in enhancing generic promotion of diamonds and diamond jewellery in the US, China, Middle East including India,” Vipul Shah added.
GJEPC is now betting on the jewellery fair in the USA scheduled for May end to mark a turnaround in the US exports. It is expected that by September 2024, the diamond and diamond jewellery exports will witness robust growth .
Gross export of Silver Jewellery for FY24 declined 44.97 per cent to $1618.97 million over the comparative figure of $2942.20 million for previous year.
Gross export of Coloured Gemstones for the financial year grew by 14 per cent to $478.71 million over the comparative figure of $420.13 million for previous year.
In FY24, Platinum Gold Jewellery exports have registered a growth of 449.16 per cent to $163.48 million over the comparative figure of $29.77 million for previous year.
Gross export of Polished Lab Grown Diamonds for the FY 2023-24 declined 16.54 per cent to $1402.44 million over the comparative figure of $1680.29 million for previous year.
Meanwhile, the industry is concerned with the ongoing conflict in the Middle East that may impact the overall exports in the first quarter of FY 2024-25.
Source: https://www.financialexpress.com