Amid slowing activity in key markets - the US and China - India is emerging as a major diamond cutting and polishing hub, said Amit Pratihari, managing director of De Beers India. De Beers is a major supplier of rough diamonds to India.
India is the world's largest diamond cutting and polishing hub, accounting for nine out of 10 polished diamonds worldwide, according to the government.
However, weak demand from China and the US has caused the country's cut and polished diamond exports to fall in the past year, forcing the industry to focus on its growing domestic market, which will surpass China to become the world's second-largest in 2024. "China has completely slowed down in the luxury segment... We see India growing very strongly," Pratihari said. However, he said there were some early signs of a recovery in the U.S. and “big gains” in the Middle East. “In the next couple of months, we expect recovery,” he said.
He explained that De Beers is adjusting rough prices to support the midstream industry (the companies that buy rough diamonds from miners and sell them to retailers after cutting and polishing) as polished prices fall more than rough prices.
“Miners are controlling supply so more rough doesn’t come into the market that would put additional pressure on polished prices. But the pressure on polished prices is in the midstream as in retail there is no change,” he explained.
According to the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), weak export demand for polished diamonds forced Indian diamond processors to cut rough diamond imports by 22% to $7.9 billion in the April-December period. At the same time, India’s cut and polished diamond exports fell by 8.3% to $9.76 billion in April-December compared to the 2023 period.
Hélène Tarin, Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
