THE YEAR THAT WAS... AND THE YEAR THAT WILL BE

Moving away from the instability and chaos of 2022, the diamond industry looks forward to a more stable and less volatile 2023

-  Suneeta K

 

The diamond industry has had a topsy-turvy time in the year 2022 – just about everything happened. Sharply rising prices, and then equally sharply falling prices, the Russia-Ukraine conflict (and all that it entailed), Lab Grown Diamonds cementing their place in fashion jewellery, falling demand in the US, inflation woes, recessionary trends, US sanctions on Russia, which is one of the major producers of roughs, the re-emergence of yet another strain of COVID -- the industry weathered it all. The year 2023 is expected to bring a little more stability to the industry, and stakeholders are keeping their fingers crossed.

2022-Year of volatility

The see-sawing of prices was a major factor in the year gone by. Says Nilesh Chhabria, Finestar Jewellery and Diamonds, Mumbai, "2022 was a very volatile year, with the first quarter having high rough and polished prices, which dropped over the year. In this scenario, cautious buying and selling is the key factor for a sustainable business.

"There was less demand from the US market compared to 2021, and hence, consumption in the western market was lower.Globally, the industry saw high inflation, falling stock markets and recession in major diamond-consuming countries. The Asian market was also at low levels due to the continuous lockdowns in China, and the constant fear of a spike in COVID cases."