India’s gem and jewellery exports, among the country’s biggest earners, are rebounding in ways that reflect a successful push to diversify trade away from the United States amid higher tariffs and a tougher global trade environment, analysts and industry executives have said.
The industry’s shipments rose 19.64 per cent year on year to US$2.51 billion in November, even after Washington imposed tariffs of up to 50 per cent on Indian goods – a move that had initially raised fears of a sharp hit to one of the country’s biggest export sectors.
Industry executives caution that the November jump partly reflects delayed shipments following the Diwali holiday in October, but say the underlying trend points to gradual stabilisation driven by stronger demand from alternative markets in Asia and the Middle East.
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Shipments rose to US$2.51 billion from US$2.10 billion a year earlier, according to figures from the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).
The rebound followed a subdued October, when production and dispatches slowed because of the Diwali festival, with some exports deferred to November, GJEPC Chairman Kirit Bhansali told This Week in Asia.
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