IDEX Report from IIJS: Diamond demand low, gold jewelry affected by high gold price

The last two days of the International India Jewellery Show, held at Mumbai's Bombay Exhibition Centre, saw a low turn-out, IDEX's on-site reporter Vismay Bhanhkaria noted.

"You'd expect to see a much larger turn-put of visitors on a Sunday - August 11. Of course, attendance on the last day of the show, Monday August 12, was very minor and exhibitors were packing up by noontime."

At IIJS, the overall feed back from the diamond companies exhibiting was that demand and sales were subdued, but then, most participants confirmed, that was to be expected.

It remains to be seen what decisions current exhibitors will take with regard to their participation in following editions IIJS. Globally, loose diamond suppliers participate in less international fairs, as they are ever more picking and choosing what shows they regard as effective for their marketing purposes. "Based on what we heard at the show, one can expect that for IIJS, too, we'll see a contraction of the number of diamond exhibitors at future editions. But it is impossible say how that will pan out exactly," Bhankharia said.

It seems that the gold jewelry sector fared a little, if not much, better at IIJS. "Exhibitors had many inquiries and expressions of interest from clients. Of course, they hope to have at least moderate orders in the coming weeks since the festive season is approaching. The general view from these exhibitors is that as long as the high prices of gold remain stable it won't hurt them. A combination of high prices and volatility is something they do not want at this point," Bhankharia reported.