While most people do not associate Thailand primarily with precious gemstones and jewelry, these industries have a fairly strong position in the country’s economy. According to the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council, Thailand’s industrial production index in the precious gemstone and jewelry sector was 15 percent higher in 2023, than a year ago. Let’s take a closer look at the development of the precious gemstone mining and processing, diamond cutting and polishing, as well as the trade in these industries’ products in Thailand.
Precious gemstones
Precious varieties of corundum - rubies and sapphires - have been known in Thailand since the 15th century. The gemstones were first discovered in the southeast of the country, in the Chanthaburi and the Trat provinces. Local villagers found them during agricultural work. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the region was among the world’s key sources of sapphires and rubies, and active mining was mainly held on placer deposits. Typically, after discovering a promising area, local miners cut down the jungle in the area, built huts and lived there for some time, washing the soil and extracting gemstones. The most valuable gemstones in the Chanthaburi-Trat minerogenic province were the rare yellow sapphires known as ‘Mekong Whiskey’. Famous sapphire and ruby deposits in the Chanthaburi-Trat province include:
• Khao Phloi Waen - corundums (sapphires and rubies);
• Bang Kha Cha - blue, green, yellow and black star sapphires;
• Bo Waen - rubies;
• Bo Na Wong - rubies;
• Wat Tok Phrom - rubies;
• Ban Bo I-Rem - dark blue sapphires;
• Nong Bon - large rubies;
• Bo Rai - rubies;
• Pailin - rubies.
In 1919, another large source of sapphires was discovered in the Kanchanaburi Province, 100 km west of Bangkok. Blue sapphires were mainly mined in this area, but yellow, pink and ‘star’ sapphire varieties were also mined.
Around the same time, deposits of precious corundum gemstones were discovered in the Phrae Province in the north of the country, but mining at these deposits did not begin until the 1970s. Small blue and green sapphires (up to 5 carats) were mainly mined in this area, as well as rare ink-color blue and purple gemstones.
In the early 2000s, there was a slight surge in small-scale gemstone mining in the Chanthaburi Province. However, it is not possible to estimate the production of sapphires and rubies in Thailand, even approximately, due to the lack of any statistical data.
The city of Chanthaburi is the administrative center of the Chanthaburi Province and it has remained the center of gemstone processing and trade since the 19th century. The gemstones are cut and polished both at factories and by private craftsmen. Another major center for cutting and polishing the rough precious gemstones is Bangkok where the Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand (GIT) is also located.
In addition to sapphires and rubies mined in Thailand, gemstones are imported from abroad to be cut and polished in the country. The statistics from the International Trade Centre indicate that in 2023, Thailand imported the 1st order rough precious gemstones (according to the classification of E. Ya. Kievlenko; excluding diamonds) worth $120.4 mn (Figure 1), including rubies worth $63.3 mn, sapphires - $9 mn and emeralds - $48 mn.
The main supplier of rough precious gemstones to Thailand is Mozambique supplying over 80 percent - by value - of rubies and 43 percent of rough precious gemstones on the whole. Almost the entire volume of emeralds is purchased from Colombia and Brazil (78 percent and 21 percent, respectively). Rubies are also mainly imported from Hong Kong (as part of the re-exports), sapphires are imported from Australia and Sri Lanka. Other suppliers of precious gemstones include Tanzania (sapphires and rubies), Zambia (emeralds), India (emeralds, sapphires and rubies) and a number of other countries.
Figure 1. Structure of imports of precious gemstones (rough rubies, sapphires, and emeralds) to Thailand in 2023, $ mn. Source - International Trade Centre
Thailand has a developed cutting and polishing industry, as well as a jewelry manufacturing one, so the country purchases cut and polished precious gemstones in significant quantities. In particular, the imports of cut and polished rubies, sapphires and emeralds (except for sawn and roughly processed gemstones), but not strung ones, just loose and unmounted gemstones were estimated in 2023 at $721.6 mn; including $207.8 mn in the re-imports.1 By volume, the imports were about 15 mn carats (3 tons according to statistics), and the volume was about 10 mn carats, excluding the re-imports.
Key suppliers of cut and polished gemstones to Thailand include Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, India, Zambia and Mozambique; taken together, these five countries accounted for almost two-thirds of the imports by value (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Structure of the Thailand’s imports of cut and polished rubies, sapphires and emeralds (excluding sawn and roughly processed gemstones), but not strung ones, just loose and unmounted gemstones, in 2023 (excluding the re-imports), $ mn. Source - International Trade Centre
Other major suppliers include the USA, Colombia, Madagascar, Switzerland, South Africa, Myanmar, Brazil, as well as some European countries, the UAE, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and others.
Thailand is one of the world’s leading exporters of cut and polished gemstones (rubies, sapphires and emeralds). According to the International Trade Centre, the exports were estimated at $1.3 bn by value in 2023, with the total global exports (including the re-exports) of $8.4 bn. By volume, the Thailand’s exports of precious gemstones are estimated at approximately 45 mn carats.
More than half (50.8 percent) of the exports of cut and polished rubies, sapphires and emeralds were to Hong Kong. Major buyers also include the USA, a number of European countries (Switzerland, France, Italy, Great Britain), India, Sri Lanka, Japan, the UAE, Singapore, and others (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Structure of the Thailand’s exports of cut and polished rubies, sapphires and emeralds (except sawn and roughly processed gemstones), but not strung ones, just loose and unmounted gemstones, in 2023, $ mn. Source - International Trade Centre
According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) data on exports of cut and polished rubies, sapphires and emeralds by the world’s largest suppliers (excluding the re-exports), Thailand has been the key exporter of precious gemstones to the global market for about 30 years (from 1995 to 2022), except for the period from 2012 to 2018 when Hong Kong outstripped it (Figure 4). In general, since the early 20th century, there has been a trend towards an increase in the Thailand’s gemstone exports. The downturns occurred only in the ‘crisis’ year of 2009 and the ‘pandemic’ years of 2019-2020.
Bangkok hosts the annual Bangkok Gems and Jewellery Fair that is among the largest in the world in this field. Its 70th edition will be held in September 2024. The 69th exhibition held in February 2024, as the organizers expected, brought together about 1,125 companies selling gemstones and jewelry from 21 countries (primarily from Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Japan, China, Singapore), and attracted over 37 thousand visitors.
Figure 4. Dynamics of exports by the world’s largest suppliers of cut and polished rubies, sapphires and emeralds (except sawn and roughly processed gemstones), but not strung ones, just loose and unmounted gemstones, in 1995 to 2022 (excluding the re-exports), $ mn - $ bn. Source - Observatory of Economic Complexity
Rough and polished diamonds
There is no diamond mining in Thailand, and no diamond deposits have ever been discovered in the country. At the same time, Thailand is a significant center for diamond cutting&polishing and trade in rough precious gemstones in Southeast Asia.
According to Kimberley Process Rough Diamond Statistics, Thailand imported 111 thousand carats of rough diamonds in 2022 worth over $51 mn at an average price of $459.4 per carat. Out of six ASEAN countries that imported diamonds during this period (Singapore, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos), Thailand ranks fifth in terms of imports by value and by volume. At the same time, these figures do not reflect the country’s diamond manufacture volume, since the rough diamonds purchased may be exported as roughs. In this regard, it is advisable to refer to the IDEX Online that annually publishes analytical data for the ‘diamond pipeline’, reflecting the cost of rough and polished diamonds throughout the value chain.
In the recent data for 2022 that are of great current interest, the statistics for Thailand are listed together with the ‘others’, without specifying which countries are included in the category of the ‘others’. This probably refers to all other countries (except India, South Africa, Botswana, China, Russia, Israel, Belgium and the United States) that are engaged in diamond cutting and polishing. In any case, according to the available data, cutting and polishing enterprises in Thailand and other countries purchased rough diamonds for $0.29 bn in 2022, which amounted to 1.8 percent of the global roughs. The cost of rough diamonds cut and polished at the same enterprises amounted to $0.38 bn, 1.85 percent of the global figure. In general, these are quite high figures, and, judging by the name of the category ‘Thailand and others’, the most part of the stones was probably provided by Thailand.
The further development of Thailand as a center for the precious gemstone and jewelry manufacture and trade, of course, depends on a number of factors, including the market conditions. At the same time, the availability of the country’s own ruby and sapphire deposits, its centuries-long experience in gemstone cutting and polishing, as well as its proximity to other centers of precious gemstone mining and trade (Sri Lanka, Hong Kong) and active efforts in strengthening the international cooperation, including the organization of exhibitions, suggest that the cooperation vector is expected to be most optimistic.
Anastasia Smolnikova for Rough&Polished
Notes:
1 ‘Re-import’ in the International Trade Centre’s terminology is the import of goods in the same condition as they were previously exported.
