“The market condition is very much under control,” said Aagam Sanghavi of Sanghavi Exports. “It surprises me to read reports in the media that the situation in the diamond industry is bad. For my company, production is steady and at least until Diwali, I do not see any decline in production for my company or for the rest of the industry.” The Diwali holiday is in mid-November this year.
Dineshbhai Navadiya, president of the Surat Diamond
Association (SDA), agreed. “I have not come across any instance of a negative
market condition. The reports in the newspaper of workers being jobless are
baseless.” Rajiv Jain, chairman of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion
Council (GJEPC), explained that “In fact, the industry is looking for skilled
manpower. The question of people being jobless just does not arise. I have no
clue where The Times of India got a figure of 30,000 workers being rendered
jobless. This is not accurate at all.”
SLUMP IS SEASONAL
Commenting on the newspaper’s assertion that dealers are forced to sell polished at a loss because of the sharp rise in the price of the rough and the fall in the price of the polished, Jain added, “This is simply not true.” Medium to low-end stones are selling well right now because buyers are spending cautiously, according to Sanghavi, but he reiterated that the strength at the low end is no sign of the market becoming weak in any way.
Navadiya stated that during the summer season, the industry expects demand to be slow but that should not make people jump to the conclusion that it is in a crisis period.
“Ups and downs are there in each industry and that applies
to the gems and jewelry industry, too,” Navadiya said. “I am very sure that the
market will pick up the pace after the India International Jewellery Show
(IIJS), when people start stocking for the festive Christmas and Diwali holiday
season.” IIJS opens on August 23 in Mumbai and Navadiya noted shopping for the
year-end holiday usually begins in September.
IT’S SHOW TIME
The month of August is one of the most anticipated months for the Indian diamond industry because of the IIJS, which is organized and hosted by GJEPC. With the market anticipating some sluggish demand for diamonds in this second half of 2012, the players are hoping that the show will give them a boost, with domestic and international buyers attending the event to stock up for the holiday season.
Apart from IIJS, the council is very upbeat about the third
edition of the Indian International Jewellery Week (IIJW), slated to be held in Mumbai August 19
to 23. Jain said he is seeing “a tremendous response for both IIJS and IIJW and
there is already a lot of excitement in the industry. People are more upbeat
about the domestic market demand. There are many more international
participants for IIJW this year and one of the highlights will be an exclusive
show by Japan’s leading jewelry designer Ishikawa Nobuko. The event also will
have a touch of glamour, with Bollywood celebrities modeling jewelry on the
runway.”
TALKING TRADE
A much-awaited conference — The Rapaport International Diamond Conference — will be held at Vivanta by Taj-President in Mumbai on August 29. The focus of the conference will be on branding opportunities, investment diamonds and both rough diamond and polished diamond prices.
Indian Minister of Industry and Commerce Anand Sharma led a high-level Indian business delegation to Belgium at the end of June. In addressing the Global India Business Meeting–2012, Sharma urged the Antwerp Diamond Bourse to establish an institutional linkage with the Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) to expand trade and develop needed skills. Sharma also assured the diamond industry that issues relating to the simplification of the procedural tax would be taken up with the Indian Finance Ministry. He added that he was confident that India’s coalition government would be able to come to a consensus very soon on allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in multibrand retail in India.
A GJEPC delegation also met with S.R. Rao, the recently appointed India Commerce Secretary. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss issues of importance to the gems and jewelry industry, especially ways to increase exports. Among the other topics were: the presumptive taxation system, reintroduction of the 2 percent interest subvention on the rupee export credit, transfer pricing and the generic promotion of diamonds worldwide.
The Marketplace
- The overall market for polished and rough remains quiet.
- Buyers are being cautious due to uncertain prices.
- Demand is better for fancy shapes than for rounds.
- The VS+ category is seeing sluggish demand and sharp price
reductions.
- The market is eagerly anticipating the upcoming India International Jewellery Show (IIJS).
