In response to the 2023 downturn, the Indian trade organization Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) and four other Indian industry bodies have recommended a voluntary two-month moratorium on rough diamond imports from Oct. 15 to Dec. 15, 2023. This year, despite the current market slump, GJEPC has confirmed it will not be implementing a similar measure. Instead, the organization wishes to focus on promoting demand.
While the moratorium provided temporary relief to the supply-demand imbalances, improving midstream trading in early 2024, manufacturers soon resumed rough diamond purchases at a period when consumer demand was static.
GJEPC chairman Vipul Shah, in conversation with Rapaport News, said, an “import freeze is not a solution. We have to plan for [the] long term.” He highlighted plans to collaborate with the Natural Diamond Council (NDC) and the Indian government to bolster marketing efforts, encouraging the industry to “work towards marketing spend[ing] and promotion.”
