Gems and jewellery exports grew at a slow pace of 5.4% to USD 3.3 billion in July year-on-year. In the previous month, the exports had jumped by 17%. The exports stood at USD 3.1 billion in July last fiscal, according to the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) data. Exporters said the demand from the main markets like the the US and Europe had shown a sluggish trend, which led to the decline in gems and jewellery exports.
While the US accounts for about 25% of the country's total gems and jewellery exports, Europe contributes 20%. "There are less number of orders from markets like the US and European markets," GJEPC Chairman Rajiv Jain said.
However, he added that demand from new markets like Russia, Latin America and Africa is increasing.
Traders are worried that the debt crisis in the Western world may hit demand and lead to payment problems.
As per the GJEPC data, exports of silver jewellery saw the maximum growth of 63.4% year-on-year in July, followed by gold medallions and coins (33.8%), gold jewellery (25.33%). However, coloured gemstones exports declined by 82%. In the first four months of this fiscal, the gems and jewellery exports jumped 14.4% to USD 14.1 billion compared to the same period last fiscal. During 2010-11, the shipments grew 15.34% to USD 33.54 billion compared to the previous fiscal, according to the figures provided by the Commerce Ministry.