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IIJS Opens With Fewer Visitors, Challenging Environment
Aug 23, 2012 1:59 PM
By Dilipp S. Nag, Avi Krawitz
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RAPAPORT... The India International Jewellery Show (IIJS) 2012 opened on Thursday with noticeably less traffic than previous years and buyers in attendance seemed focused on getting a feel for prices.
Exhibitors came to the show with low expectations as tight liquidity and high inflation has affected local consumer confidence. But they hope that retailers will use IIJS to buy inventory in time for the local fes tival and the upcoming wedding season.
“The show may not be more than last year but the timing of IIJS is especially good this year because it gives retailers the chance to make repeat orders before Diwali,” Mehul Choksi, the chairman of Gitanjali Group, told Rapaport News. Diwali falls in November this year, a month later than it did in 2011.
He acknowledged that the market is tough at the moment but noted that retailers are having a harder time managing high rupee-based gold prices than they are diamonds, given that diamonds account for a much smaller portion of their sales.
Still, diamond suppliers expect retailers to book orders for Diwali now as the festival season has already started. “So far, the show is okay given that it’s only the first day,” said one manufacturer who specializes in goods below 0.50-carat.
Exhibitors noted that there is good demand for G-H color, SI and lower-clarity, clean-cut stones, and that these goods are difficult to find, while demand for better-quality stones is weak.
Sumit Kumar, the sales manager at wholesaler Anmol Jewellers, said that retailers are beginning to buy again as they have been out of the market for a few months due to the weak market. He expects that visitor traffic will increase over the weekend.
The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) reported that more than 800 companies are exhibiting at this event, which runs until August 27. The council expects 30,000 local visitors and more than 3,000 visitors from international markets to attend the show, including delegations from Bangladesh, China, Dubai, Hungary, Japan, Pakistan and Singapore.
“With $43.2 billion in exports, constituting about 14.2 percent of India’s merchandise exports, the importance of this show is immense in the overall growth of the gem and jewelry industry in India,” said Rajiv Jain, chairman of GJEPC.
Anand Sharma, India’s Minister of Commerce & Industry, inaugurated the show along with Jain and Sanjay Kothari, vice chairman of GJEPC.
Jain said that India’s exports declined in June and July and urged the government to provide some relief to the industry. “The times are bad and the industry should be included in the 2 percent subvention scheme of interest and the government should impress upon the banks to extend their credit periods for pre-shipment and penal interest for post shipment as the realization of export proceeds are slow,” he said.
Sharma noted that the exports are showing marginal decline due to external factors such as decreased demand from major western markets and economic turmoil across Europe. “The opening of single brand retail will enhance sourcing by these international retailers like Zales, Tiffany and others from India, thus resulting in expansion of the manufacturing sector and creation of more jobs for the sector,” he added.
Jain emphasized that the government should engage proactively with diamond producing countries to acquire the mines or buy stakes in diamond mines for steady supply of rough diamonds, which would in turn safeguard the jobs of millions of workers in India. He also said that the colored gemstone manufacturers of Jaipur and Diamond India Ltd. have formed Colour Gems India Ltd. (CGIL) and requested the government establish successful links with the colored gemstone rough producers in different countries.
He also pressed for a world-class convention center at Mumbai so that more participants can be accommodated at the IIJS. Sharma stated that he was discussing the matter with Maharashtra government to create such facility in Mumbai.
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Tags:
diamonds, Dilipp S. Nag, Dilipp S. Nag, Avi Krawitz, GJEPC, IIJS, India, jewellery, Jewelry, Rapaport
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