India
For the whole of the month India was the focus of attention paid by mass media: as the largest consumer and one of the most significant manufacturers of jewelry, as well as the organizer of the India International Jewelry Show (IIJS).
The country is developing new wheelwork to stimulate acquisition of gold jewelry.
Thus, India’s largest jewelry trade festival Lucky Lakshmi will be held this year from September 30 to November 3. For the first time it was run two years ago and then jewelry sales during the festival were reported to grow by 40 percent.
Ashok Minawala, President of the All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF), organizing the festival, expects it will help jewelers to improve sales throughout India by 30 percent compared to the previous year. A greater number of participants are expected this year to the festival backed up by a more significant promotion budged. One of the component events within this promotion is the prize contest for a total amount of Rs. 200 million ($4.75 million).
According to Vasant Birawat, member of the festival’s organizing committee, the festival is expected to cover 2,000 - 2,500 jewelers across approximately 120 cities. The 35-day event is sponsored by the World Gold Council.
Merchants are seeking new opportunities to attract new categories of buyers. Some jewelers in India say gold is more and more often is used to make up collections of light jewelry. The jewelers point to the demand from employed women for affordable jewelry suitable for everyday wear.
Chanat Sorakraikitikul, director of Pranda Jewelry, notes: “Yellow metal is surely coming back. It is in the limelight and despite hiked prices, sales have increased.” “Every woman loves diamonds,” he goes on. “But white can get monotonous and boring, so for a change women are now looking at gold with great interest.”
Michelle King, brand manager of Gili, belonging to Gitanjali, adds that earlier gold meant only heavy jewellery, so the teenagers and youngsters had to seek alternatives like diamonds and silver.
Lightweight gold bracelets, chains, and earrings are becoming part of daily wear of today’s women, says Santosh Kumar, marketing head of Jewels Plus. The company intends to attract younger female buyers releasing lightweight gold jewelry in all these categories.
On August 7-11, Mumbai welcomed the 25th India International Jewellery Show (IIJS) – 2008.
Today’s India is a country, whose economy is gaining momentum and has good outlooks with its middle class population counting about 200 million, Edahn Golan of IndexOnline reminds. The country, which in the last decades mainly concentrated jewelry production and trade, today is considered as a key consumer market able to keep it afloat amid serious economic problems in the industrially developed countries. Jewelry manufacturers from Italy, Belgium, Thailand, Turkey and Israel pay particular attention to the Indian market – each of these countries opened its specialized pavilion at the show.
At the same time, the participants of the exhibition noted that prices rose to a resistance level. Polished diamond prices turned out too high for many buyers explaining their selectiveness in purchases.
The concern expressed by many was that the woes of the U.S. market may also be seen in the Indian consumer market as well. Following the Bombay Stock Exchange crash, the local real estate business has sunk, leaving many potential consumers with less discretionary money to spend.
The upcoming Diwali Holiday will be the time when this situation may come to a head. With many diamond dealers also invested in the stock market and the local real estate market, if they do not see an inflow of cash, their financial situation may become extremely difficult.
Speaking at the IIJS, Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council Chairman Sanjay Kothari acknowledged that Indian jewelry export has been hurt by the downturn in the U.S. economy.
As he said, jewelry exports to the United States were down 30 percent, with the market for low-end “Wal-Mart-type” goods hit particularly hard.
He stressed that some jewelry companies with offices in India’s special economic zone of Mumbai (Santacruz Electronics Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ)) have had to lay off employees, while others are moving outside of SEEPZ to cater to the local Indian market. “They are suffering,” Kothari said.
As a result, India is turning to new markets to keep its large jewelry industry afloat, with a specific eye on the Middle East.
Kothari said the Middle East is India’s primary market after the United States. “The Middle East can become a really good buyer and partner for us,” he said.
According to Kothari, by the years’ end, they are looking to launch an India-specific brand of jewelry, called “Made in India,” and that its first market of distribution will be the Middle East.
Other markets into which India is looking to expand include China, Pakistan and Russia.
”The U.S. economic cloud can be displaced by other countries,” Kothari said.
Indonesia
Not only China and India, but also other Asia-Pacific countries are now more alert in moving to the world jewelry market taking up necessary steps to promote their jewelry companies.
The Indonesian jewelry industry made its debut at the JA New York Summer Show this year. The country is hoping its plethora of natural resources and skilled jewelry-makers, along with its political and economic reforms, will entice the U.S. market.
At a special welcome reception held by Indonesian Ambassador to the United States Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat, he said his country’s jewelry industry was becoming increasingly significant for Indonesia’s economic growth. In 2007, total exports of jewelry products reached $903 million, an increase of 29.4 percent over 2006.
Underpinning this growth is Indonesia’s geology, which offers an abundance of precious metals and gemstones. Known as “the belt of emeralds across the equator,” Indonesia is also rich in skilled craftsman who specialize in jewelry production, especially silver pieces.
In addition, the country has several initiatives, such as the Mutumanikam Nusantara, which aims to develop small, medium-size and large jewelry enterprises to create more job opportunities for the country’s craftsmen as well as boost the reputation of Indonesian jewelry at both the national and international levels.
The country’s jewelry centers export finished pieces and jewelry parts to major markets around the world, including Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The United States, in particular—the world’s largest importer of silver jewelry—is a key trading partner for Indonesia, according to the ambassador. It is the country’s second largest export destination after Japan.
