Indian diamond trade reports booming sales to China
SURAT, India, January 8, 2011 – Indian diamond and diamond jewellery processors attending the Sparkle 2011 trade fair said exports of polished diamonds to China and sales to the Indian domestic market, are growing sharply.
“There is a huge amount of wealth being generated in China, and sales of Indian diamonds there are doing very well,” Rohit Mehta, Vice President of the Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Jewellery Outlook at Sparkle.
Mehta also said that sales of diamonds and diamond jewellery are flourishing in the domestic Indian market as young people increasingly favour diamonds and had identified a cost advantage of diamond jewellery over gold jewellery due to the surging gold price.
China is one of the strongest growth markets for polished diamond sales by Venus Jewel, said sales executive Apoorva Shah, but he noted challenges for Indian businesses such as the Chinese import tariff, language barriers and red tape.
Shripal Masalia, a sales executive with J.B. & Brothers, another exhibitor at Sparkle, which specialises in solitaires, said China is currently a key growth market for his company, and also noted a recovery in exports to the United States after a tough period due to the global financial crisis.
Sparkle 2011, taking place from January 6-9, is the biggest so far, having expanded to almost 140 exhibitors this year, from almost 50 last year, Mehta said.
He is targeting 250 exhibitors at the next Sparkle.
According to Pravin Nanavati, Convener of Sparkle 2011, 80 percent of the world’s diamonds are cut and processed in Surat, which has one of the highest GDP growth rates in India.
Surat is seeking to position itself as an important centre for the manufacturing of diamond jewellery, Mehta said.
