Cautious Response to Sight in India, Premiums Expected to Shrink

(IDEX Online News) – The Indian diamond industry’s reaction to the latest DTC Sight has been guarded. Business sentiment has been depressed over the last several days in the wake of the bomb blasts that rocked the city and claimed the lives of several diamond industry professionals.

Given this, the news of a large Sight, estimated by some at $900 million, with an across-the-board increase in prices of 5%-10% has understandably evoked an extremely cautious “wait and see” response.

The overriding concern among Indian dealers is to first ascertain whether assortments have changed along with the price increases. Better assortments will, of course help generate easier acceptance among the manufacturers, as they have been facing a perceptibly increasing resistance to higher prices from polished buyers.

Many dealers told IDEX Online that given the current situation, they expected premiums on Sight boxes to drop — the greatest number estimating that they would stay in the low single digits. A couple of dealers, however, thought the premiums might vanish altogether.

Some dealers said they had already expected a price rise of around 7%. However, in the wake of the blasts, they are now saying it is hard to predict which way the market will go.