Halt India's Diamond Imports for Three Months after COVID-19, says Even-Zohar

(IDEX  Online) -  Click here to download in Gujurati

India's government should halt imports of rough diamonds to help its cutters and polishers recover from the COVID-19 crisis, says industry veteran Chaim Even-Zohar.

In an exclusive and far-reaching Memo for IDEX Online he proposes a three-month moratorium to help over-stocked producers stuck in the "uncomfortable mid-stream" to shift existing inventories totalling up to $7bn.

He accuses India's banks of giving up on the diamond sector and blames sightholders for contributing to its "choked" inventories with their monthly rush to De Beers and Alrosa.

"India needs to sell for a couple of months only from inventory," he writes. "This will reduce their banking debts, bankers may warm up to the novel idea that the industry is bankable, and the overall health of the industry will certainly improve dramatically."

Click here to read the full Memo.