De Beers Report Highlights India as Counter to Flat Growth
he world’s largest diamond miner sees the industry’s biggest opportunity in India, with its burgeoning economy and emerging middle class, according to The De Beers Group of Companies’ Diamond Insight Report 2015.
It said world demand for diamond jewelry rose 3 percent to more than $80 billion for the first time in 2014 as global rough diamond production rose 6 per cent to $19 billion,
In July, the miner cut its full-year production goal to 29 million to 31 million carats from a previous range of 30 million to 32 million carats. That was down from as much as 34 million carats at the start of the year.
Diamond demand grew in all five of the top consuming markets – U.S., China, Japan, India and the Gulf Cooperation Council nations which account for 75 per cent of global purchases, according to the report. Elsewhere, growth was stymied by a strong dollar.
Still, despite 2014’s performance, the continued strength of the dollar and lower demand in China is likely to mean that little further global growth (in U.S. dollar terms) in 2015, the company said.
India’s diamond consumer market has achieved almost uninterrupted growth over the last 20 years and is now one of the world’s largest consumer markets, the report said. At the same time, retail behavior is changing as chains are set to grow in significance and lead the way in online development, both as a sales channel and as a means of researching future purchases.