【Surat, India】What De Beers Curtailing of Rough Diamond Production Means for Surat’s Polishing Industry

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Editor’s Note

De Beers, a major global diamond producer, has significantly reduced its output in response to sustained weak demand, a move industry observers view as an attempt to stabilize the market.

Surat, Surat diamond polishing industry, rough diamond production, diamond production, Ahmedabad news, Gujarat news, Indian express, current affairs
Production Cuts Amid Market Challenges

De Beers, which claims to mine a third of the world’s rough diamonds, curtailed its rough diamond production by 36 percent in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. This move, attributed to a “prolonged period of lower demand,” is seen by major players in Surat’s diamond industry as an effort to help stabilize the market. According to a report released by De Beers on July 24, overall production fell to 4.1 million carats. Canada saw the highest reduction at 46%, followed by Botswana at 44% and Namibia at 5%, while production in South Africa increased by 17%.
According to the De Beers company website, rough diamond trading was “challenging” in the first half of 2025, with polished diamond prices stabilizing globally by the end of the first quarter. The report stated that business was significantly affected by the “uncertainty surrounding US tariffs announced in April,” which impacted the trade of polished diamonds.

Export and Import Data Reflect Downturn

This sentiment aligns with business data from the Gems & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), which shows a 22.72% decline in gross exports of cut and polished natural diamonds in the second quarter (April–June 2025). Exports stood at USD 2837.29 million (Rs. 24,270.19 crores), compared to USD 3671.33 million (Rs. 30,623.29 crores) for the same period the previous year. Gross imports of rough diamonds in the same period this year were USD 3222.93 million (Rs 27,567.68 crores), showing a decline of 5.13% compared to imports of USD 3397.08 million (Rs. 28,330.10 crores) the previous year.
In terms of volume, the gross import of rough diamonds was 272.64 lakh carats during the second quarter, down by 8.72% compared to last year.

Industry Perspectives on the Production Cut
“The diamond industry is passing through a bad phase of recession, as there is no major demand in the international market. The reduction in production of rough diamonds by De Beers will not create any impact on the present condition, as in the last three years, the natural diamond cutting and polishing have gone down by over 30 per cent. The steps taken by De Beers will help to build a stronger market for natural diamonds when there is a shortage of inventory, and it will also help to stabilise the market for cut and polished diamonds,”

said Savji Dholakia, Chairman of Hari Krishna Exports, a leading diamond manufacturing and export company in Surat.
According to GJEPC Gujarat president Jayentibhai Savaliya,

“The De Beers group had curtailed the production of the rough diamonds from its sources because the market condition of natural polished diamonds is not preferable. The group doesn’t want to increase production and reduce the rate of natural rough diamonds. By controlling the production, they wanted to maintain the prices of rough diamonds globally.”

Surat Diamond Association president Jagdish Khut said,

“Presently, there is no shortage of supply of rough diamonds in the industry. We have not received any such complaint from any of the diamond manufacturing companies or traders. The purpose of reducing production could be that they wanted to clear the earlier stock.”
Shift Towards Lab-Grown Diamonds

Diamond trader and ex-president of the Surat Diamond Association, Damji Mawani, agrees on the lack of major demand for natural diamonds in the international market.

“As a result, in Surat, many factory owners who were earlier in cutting and polishing natural diamonds have diverted them to Lab Grown Diamonds (LGD). There are diamond factories that are running both units, LGD and natural diamonds parallelly. Around 60 to 70 per cent of the natural diamond companies in Surat jumped into LGD. The domestic sales of LGD had also grown,”

Mawani says.
However, exports of LGD in the second quarter also showed a decline of 19%, falling from USD 319.7 million in the corresponding period last year to USD 258.5 million this year.

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⏰ Published on: July 31, 2025