After four years of recession, there are signs of improvement in Surat's diamond business. New orders have started coming from America, but the shortage of rough diamonds has increased the problems of businessmen. The prices of small diamonds have also increased.
Business News: There is relief news for diamond traders who have been facing difficulties for a long time in Surat, Gujarat. After a lull of about four years, new orders for diamond jewelery have started coming from foreign markets including America. The demand for jewelery is also increasing in the domestic market on Diwali. But as soon as business picks up again, new problems have arisen. There is a shortage of low priced rough diamonds in Surat. In such a situation, many businessmen are not able to prepare the goods on time despite receiving orders.
Surat's diamond business returns to glory after four years
Surat is counted among the largest diamond cutting and polishing centers in the world. Here, in thousands of small and big factories, raw diamonds are cut and made shiny. But in the last four years, weak foreign demand and falling prices had caused huge losses to this business. Now some improvement is visible in the situation. According to the report of Dainik Bhaskar, in the last two months, diamond traders of Surat have started receiving new orders from America. The interest of foreign buyers has also increased for Christmas and the upcoming Valentine's Day.
In the Indian Express report, local businessmen have also confirmed receiving new orders. For this reason, many diamond factories of Surat have decided to keep the Diwali holidays short this time. Usually the diamond factories here remain closed for about 25 days on Diwali, but this time many units are ready to start work only after about 15 days.
Shortage of rough diamonds worth less than Rs 20 thousand
Amidst the improvement in business, supply of rough diamonds has become a big problem in Surat. According to local traders, especially rough diamonds priced below Rs 20,000 are not easily available in the market. It has been reported in the report that during the last two months, the prices of rough diamonds of this category have increased by about 10 to 20 percent.
Its impact is more on small factories. Traders who already have stock of rough diamonds are able to fulfill orders. But those who do not have enough goods, they have to pay higher prices. Some units have had to stop production due to shortage of raw materials. Traders say that if the supply does not normalize soon, it will be difficult to send goods on time despite receiving new orders.
Why did problems increase due to decline in mining in Africa?
Rough diamonds are not mined on a large scale in India. Surat's factories depend on diamonds coming from other countries. African countries like Botswana, Angola, Namibia and South Africa are among the world's leading diamond producers. Large quantities of raw diamonds also reach the international market from Russia and Canada.
According to traders, increasing fuel prices and decreasing mining activities have affected the availability of rough diamonds. Apart from this, due to weak demand in the last few years, big mining companies had also limited production. Now, due to increase in orders in the market, the demand for some categories of diamonds has started exceeding the supply. However, the price of diamonds of every size and quality has not increased equally in the international market.
When gold becomes expensive, trend towards diamond jewelery increases
High gold prices have also changed the way jewelery is purchased. Buying heavy gold jewelery is out of the budget of many families. In such a situation, customers are preferring light diamond jewelery set in low carat gold. Especially the demand for rings, earrings, pendants and bracelets is expected to increase. Jewelery traders say that customers are showing interest in diamond jewelery products priced between Rs 30 thousand to Rs 1 lakh.
There is demand in the domestic market also due to Diwali and wedding season. With this, the businessmen of Surat are expected to get business from Indian customers along with foreign orders.
There was a huge decline in exports to America last year
Even though some businessmen of Surat are now getting new orders from America, the situation of the entire industry is not the same as before. According to data from the Gems and Jewelery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), exports of gems and jewelery from India to the US had declined by 44.92 per cent to about $ 5.09 billion in the financial year 2025-26.
Indian exporters had suffered huge losses due to America's tariff policy and weak demand there. India's total gems and jewelery exports in the financial year 2025-26 stood at around $27.72 billion. In dollar terms, there was a decline of 3.32 percent compared to the previous financial year. However, demand for Indian jewelery has increased in markets like UAE, Hong Kong, Australia and Canada. This has helped exporters reduce their dependence on America.