Tuesday, August 6 2024 19:34

ArmInfo.In 2023, Armenia  increased diamond exports by 88.2% to 4,458.7 thousand carats, with a  customs value increase of 41.5% to $592.8 million. This is evidenced  by the data of the RA Customs Service 

The bulk of exports went to the UAE (84.6%), followed by Russia  (11.9%), Hong Kong (2.7%), Belgium (0.4%), and very small volumes  were distributed between Belarus, Israel, India, Germany, Thailand,  Canada, Kazakhstan, USA, Moldova, Georgia.

During the reporting year, diamond imports increased by 39% to  3,533.3 thousand carats. The customs value increased by 44.2% to  $562.3 million. The lion's share of diamonds were imported from the  Russian Federation (46.7%) and India (31.3%), much less from the UAE  (7.9%), Hong Kong (7%), Belarus (6.1%) and Belgium (2%), and very  small volumes were imported from Angola, Botswana, Thailand, Israel,  Lebanon, Canada, Congo, Switzerland, Germany, Iraq, South Africa, the  USA, Tanzania, Sierra Leone.

Meanwhile, according to statistics, the volume of production in the  jewelry industry increased by 51.8% in 2022, reaching 42 billion  drams. At the same time, precious metals/stones and products made  from them were exported in 2022 for $989.3 million (with an annual  growth of 3 times), and imported for $690.8 million (with an annual  growth of 2.8 times). Then, in 2023, the volume of production in the  jewelry industry jumped by 4.9 times, reaching 230.9 billion drams.

The significant growth in exports and imports of precious  metals/stones and products made of them in 2023 not only continued,  but also accelerated to 3.2-3.3 times with exports reaching $3.2  billion and imports reaching $2.3 billion. But already in 2024,  during the first half of the year, the dynamics of production in the  jewelry industry tried to exit stagnation and achieve weak growth,  with an accompanying significant decline in volumes, against which  the export and import of jewelry products continued to grow even more  noticeably - by 8.1-9.4 times to $5.6 billion and $6.1 billion.

According to experts, the very fact that precious metals and stones  have come to dominate exports and imports over the years, with low  production volumes in the jewelry industry, already indicates  re-export and re-import, which, judging by the data for the first  half of 2024, are still taking place.