Diamond units to observe shortest ever Diwali break over high demand

Surat: In wake of the renewed demand for polished diamonds ahead of the Christmas from US, UK, Australia and other West Asian countries, the diamond units in Surat have decided to observe the shortest Diwali vacation ever — five days.
Diamond unit owners said that this was mainly to fulfil the orders as most of the factories were working at 60% capacity under the Covid-19 guidelines and needed more working hours to cater to the demand. Also, they want to make up for the losses incurred due to lockdown since March and the slowdown in the international market that followed.
According to the Surat Diamond Association (SDA), 80% of the units have become operational after remaining shut since March. There are small diamond units, employing less than 20 workers, that are yet to reopen due to the financial crisis and the sky-rocketing price of rough diamonds triggered by the ban on international flights in the country.
At present, out of the estimated 7,000 diamond units, nearly 6,000 are functioning at less than 60% capacity as per the Covid-19 guidelines.
According to the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), the international markets including US, UK, Australia, UAE, Hong Kong, China are performing well as far as the diamond jewellery segment was concerned. The export of polished diamonds has shown a steady increase since May this year.
Nanu Vekariya, president of SDA told TOI, “Diamantaires in Surat strictly followed the appeal of GJEPC and stayed away from importing rough diamonds in June and July months. The old inventory of polished diamonds has dried up and the diamantaires are facing a situation where they are not getting enough rough diamonds to polish due to ban on international flights.”
Vekariya added, “In such a situation, diamantaires can’t afford to keep their units shut for 20 days during Diwali festival. However, the units will be shut for five days and the work will start to cater the international demand ahead of Christmas.”
Managing director of Dharmanandan Diamonds, Hitesh Patel told TOI, “The international diamond market looks promising ahead of Christmas. The export of polished diamonds is nearing the pre-Covid levels. We are pretty sure that the diamantaires will have to run their factories for 10 to 15 hours a day to meet the ever-growing demand for diamonds.”