|
|
India
By Zainab Morbiwala
With Diwali and Christmas around the corner, the gem and jewelry industry in India has its hopes pinned on good demand from within the country, as well as from the U.S. and Europe.
Following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), De Beers is launching a major generic diamond promotion campaign in India to accelerate sales of diamond jewelry in the country. Scheduled to start on October 10, this campaign is directly targeted to coincide with the approaching festive season in India, which includes one of India’s biggest festivals, Diwali. According to information from GJEPC shared exclusively with Rapaport Magazine, while De Beers will oversee the branding and marketing strategy, GJEPC will provide support by enrolling retailers into the program. The full-fledged campaign will be comprised of intensive advertising through print, electronic and social media. The campaign will continue until March 31, 2017. On a similar note, GJEPC has also signed an MoU with the Diamond Producers Association (DPA) to undertake a diamond promotion campaign on an international scale to encourage diamond jewelry sales globally. The campaign will be initially launched in the U.S. and then in other important markets in a phased-in approach. Detailed campaign plans are still in the initial stages, with full details to be released later. Mehul Choksi, chairman and managing director Gitanjali Group, is optimistic about the campaign planned by GJEPC and the DPA to generate good demand for diamond jewelry globally. Speaking exclusively with Rapaport Magazine, he said, “I have heard that the DPA would be spending $120 million in three markets. I see this as a positive initiative. People are moving forward with more rough purchases. The pipeline looks better than in the same period in 2015.”
With the approaching festive and holiday seasons, the mood is already upbeat and the market at present is also going through a positive phase. According to Sabyasachi Ray, executive director, GJEPC, there is a positive sentiment overall now among the diamantaires as the market picked up after the India International Jewellery Show (IIJS) 2016 in August. In an exclusive interview with Rapaport Magazine, Ray shared, “There are good sales for bigger diamonds, but the market isn’t showing a good response for small diamonds. Commenting on the response generated at the September Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair, he noted, “As I’ve learned from the participants, there was a good demand for diamonds at that show and positive business was generated. However, the same trend will only be sustained if the diamond jewelry sales pick up. Jewelry sales have also seen good progress at the Hong Kong show. So overall, because of this, the market will move in a positive spiral until December 2016, which covers the festive season.” However, Ray made it a point to add that the demand is coming from the international market, while the Indian market is slow. He noted, “The council is working on marketing initiatives to build up demand for diamond jewelry.” Choksi also said that demand for “diamonds smaller than 4 points is slow due to the growing inroads of synthetic diamonds, but 4 points up to 1.5 carats are moving well. For China, there is good demand for VS to SI and for the U.S., it is SI to I1 and I2 that are doing well. Nonetheless, the production in smalls is narrowing and I predict a shortage of smalls by early next year as most of the manufacturers will not have the stock. From January 2017 onwards, we will see a good demand for smalls.”
In its most recent initiative relating to synthetic diamonds, GJEPC is calling upon all industry stakeholders to develop a coordinated approach against the undisclosed mixing of laboratory-grown and natural diamonds. The council recently submitted a request to the Indian government for a separate Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) in reference to synthetic diamonds to ensure easier traceability. GJEPC plans to approach industry groups in Singapore, Malaysia, the U.S. and United Arab Emirates (UAE) to petition their respective governments to ensure a common nomenclature for synthetic and natural diamonds.Article from the Rapaport Magazine - October 2016. To subscribe click here.
|
|
|
|