look news india
Before the budget, gold prices reached an all-time high. In the budget, the government reduced customs duty on gold, which brought down the prices. But the shine of gold is still intact.
But the high price of gold has had an adverse effect on the diamond market. The prices of both lab-grown and natural diamonds have seen a decline. In that too, the market for lab-grown diamonds has gone down. There has been a lot of fluctuation in the prices of such diamonds. Due to which a wave of concern has returned to the diamond market of Surat. The biggest concern is that the Surat market is under pressure to fulfill orders at falling diamond prices. Not only this, the price of lab-grown diamonds is skyrocketing and the payment of 38,000 employees has also gone awry. While the price was $300 per carat in July 2022, it has currently come down to $78 per carat. The prices of natural diamonds have also fallen by 25 to 30 per cent. Apart from rising gold prices, the prices of lab-grown diamonds have fallen due to the declining trend in the US economy and the changing buying pattern of China.
Leaders associated with the diamond market of Surat said that this price cut has had an economic impact on 38,000 workers of the diamond industry. Diamond prices have effectively fallen in the last 22 months. At present, when the prices of diamonds have fallen, there is pressure on the diamond market of Surat to fulfill the orders at this reduced price. In early 2023, India saw an increase in the import of raw diamonds. In such a situation, it was expected that the market would rise again. But unfortunately this optimism could not last long. Because, due to excess supply in the market, the market went down again. The problem of oversupply still persists. The demand for natural diamonds is also decreasing. On the other hand, tough competition is being seen in the lab-made diamond market. China used to be a big buyer of lab-made diamonds but suddenly its attitude is also changing. Currently, China's purchasing power has come down from ten percent to fifteen percent.
Diamond import and demand mismatch
Imports rapidly returned to pre-moratorium levels in early 2024, but polished diamond exports remained weak.
Which shows that more raw diamonds were imported in the country than required
Imports of rough diamonds rose five per cent to 57.7 million carats in the first five months of 2023-24.
However, it declined three per cent year-on-year in value terms, totalling $6.54 billion
Polished diamond exports fell 21 per cent year-on-year to $6.66 billion
Polished export volumes also fell by 15 per cent to 8.1 million carats
