Amid reduced demand from key markets like the US and the European Union, the Indian diamond industry is all set to shift its focus to domestic markets and new emerging markets in ASEAN countries in a bid to unlock their untapped demand.
Vipul Shah, Chairman, Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, told FE, “The outcome of the ongoing discussions on future prospects of the diamond industry in Russia is unclear at the moment. The government and industry are trying to work out the modalities of a fool-proof method of assessing the traceability of diamonds.”
He added that “encouraging response” from ASEAN countries to the international exhibition held at Goregaon in Mumbai recently, indicateed that these are markets hold high potential. Vietnam and Cambodia are potentially big markets.
As many as 2,100 buyers from 69 countries and business participated in the Mumbai exhibition and business worth Rs 50,000 crore was transacted.
According to reports, in 2019, worldwide production for diamonds stood at 142 million carats amounting to $13.9 billion, while the value after grading, cutting and polishing was at $ 29.7 billion. The global jewellery market is currently valued at $ 79 billion.
Amit Pratihari, VP, De Beers Forevermark, one of the top three leading diamond producer companies in the world, said, “The international diamond market is being affected by the inflationary tendencies and geo-political disturbances across the world. However, this is not a cause of concern for us as the Indian market is our main focus. De Beers believes that the Indian diamond market is positioned at a sweet spot. De Beers Forevermark business has been growing at a steady pace over the years ranging from 10% – 20% growth, since 2018.”
He said the upcoming festival season is expected to see good demand because the Indian diamond market is unique in many ways.
Commenting on the ongoing debate on the traceability of a diamond, Pratihari said, “Consumers are becoming sensitive to the origins of the products that they consume. And diamond is no exception to that. With this in mind, we at De Beers have a programme that ensures that the diamonds are sold with their origin certificate.”
De Beers (Luxembourg), Alrosa (Russia) and Rio Tinto (British-Australian) are the top three diamond producers in the world. These three account for more than 60% of the global diamond production. Russia has the highest diamond reserves. In the year 2022, Russian diamond production touched 41.92 million carats with Botswana and Canada ranking second and third with 24.5 million carats and 16.3 million carats respectively. The market value for Russian diamond production in 2022, has been estimated at $ 3.55 billion while the market value of Botswana’s production is $ 4.7 billion.