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Diamond epicenter shifting to India: Report
By agencies
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Tuesday, 05 April 2005, 19:30 IST
ANTWERP:Surat has become the new epicenter of diamond trading replacing the Belgian port city of Antwerp, according to a report published in a Belgian magazine.
The Flemish-language weekly "Knack" said Surat employs approximately 750,000 to 1 million cutters/polishers, who process rough diamonds "in sometimes shocking conditions for an average wage of 100 euros per month."
At one time Antwerp employed tens of thousands of diamond processors. Today this number has been reduced to around 150,000. About 400 Indian merchants, mainly from Gujarat, are engaged in the diamond trade in Antwerp. The figures published by the magazine showed that last year India exported processed diamonds to the tune of 7 billion euros, which represents approximately 90 percent of the global production figure.
The export to India from Belgium increased by 20 percent in 2004. "This is a very significant development," Peter Meeus, managing director of the Hoge Raad voor Diamant (Diamond Council) told the weekly.
"It underlines the position of India as both a diamond market and an industrial center. India is developing into one of the largest jewel and diamond markets in the world," Meeus said.
Almost 90 percent of Belgian exports, and 65 percent of imports from India are related to diamonds. "Until the Indians discover that they might just as well buy their rough diamonds in Dubai, and forget about Antwerp,'' said the author of the article, Hans Van Scharen.