De Beers sees retail diamond sales returning to 70-80 per cent of pre-COVID level by October-November

After two months of washout due to lockdown, pent up demand lasted for a few weeks. Then top cities lagged but business in tier II cities was 50-70 of the pre-COVID level by July, De Beers India Managing Director Sachin Jain said.

Kolkata: Diamond major De Beers India on Thursday said that the demand is gradually growing in tier I cities and its retail sales may get back to 70-80 per cent of pre-COVID level by October-November this year, a top company official said on Thursday. Revival of demand was first witnessed in tier II cities of the country, De Beers India Managing Director Sachin Jain said.

“We expect 70-80 per cent of the pre-COVID business level by October-November,” Jain told .

After two months of washout due to lockdown, pent up demand lasted for a few weeks. Then top cities lagged but business in tier II cities was 50-70 of the pre-COVID level by July, he said.

“In the last fortnight, we find demand from top cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore is coming back strongly from 30-50 per cent in the previous months,” Jain said.

De Beers has unveiled a new digital B2B platform for their business partners for continuation of trade and support.

Jain said that there was a slowdown in sales but it has no impact on price at the retail level.

“Prices remain stable as supply also remains constrained in mining, manufacturing sites due to government regulations of social distancing,” he said.

Jain said that revival of demand was also seen in China, another major market.

Courtesy: Economic Times