Chinese manufacturers with huge capacities to grow artificial diamonds in laboratories may have sent as much as Rs 3,000 crore worth of the stones to India; most of them have been processed for re-export to the US.
An unexpected offshoot of the ongoing US-China trade war has caused Chinese man-made diamonds to flood the diamond processing units in Gujarat and Rajasthan with these stones. According to diamond exporters here, Chinese manufacturers with massive capacities to grow artificial diamonds in laboratories may have sent as much as Rs 3,000 crore worth of the stones to India in 2018. Most of them have been processed for re-export to the US.
The dependency of chinese man-made diamonds has increased considerably as many smaller processing units in Gujarat are dealing only in these lab gorwn diamonds as opposed to natural diamonds. Margins for cutting these man-made stones are as low as Rs 10 per carat, while natural diamonds used to fetch Rs 50 per carat. However, the labour and time involved is much less than natural diamonds and the volumes are sufficient to keep businesses afloat.
Sources in the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council say Chinese man-made diamonds enter Mumbai via Dubai and onward to cutting and polishing units in Gujarat and Rajasthan. The cheaper imports from China are posing a major threat to local manufactures.
An unexpected offshoot of the ongoing US-China trade war has caused Chinese man-made diamonds to flood the diamond processing units in Gujarat and Rajasthan with these stones. According to diamond exporters here, Chinese manufacturers with huge capacities to grow artificial diamonds in laboratories may have sent as much as Rs 3,000 crore worth of the stones to India in 2018. Most of them have been processed for re-export to the US. “Many smaller units in Gujarat and Rajasthan are now dependent entirely on Chinese man-made diamonds as demand for natural diamonds is falling,” says Amod Shah, a diamond exporter from Mumbai. According to him, margins for cutting these man-made stones are as low as Rs 10 per carat, while natural diamonds used to fetch Rs 50 per carat. But the work involved is much less than natural diamonds and the volumes are sufficient to keep business going, says Shah. Sources in the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council say Chinese man-made diamonds enter Mumbai via Dubai and onward to cutting and polishing units in Gujarat and Rajasthan. The cheaper imports from China are posing a major threat to local manufactures.
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