China set for diamond crown
Source: Bloomberg News |
February 18, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
DIAMOND demand in China may overtake the United States to become the world's largest market by end-2015 as rising incomes spur a taste for luxury goods, said Ari Epstein, chief executive officer at Antwerp World Diamond Center.
"We see that consumption in China is increasing every year by about 25 percent," Epstein said in Beijing yesterday. The center manages 80 percent of world trade in rough diamonds and half in cut diamonds, according to its website.
China, which overtook Japan to become the world's second-largest economy in 2010, is set to displace India this year as the biggest gold user on an annual basis, the World Gold Council said on Thursday.
De Beers, the supplier of about a third of the world's rough diamonds, reported a 27 percent increase in sales last year on higher demand for the luxury gems in the United States, China and India.
The expanding middle class combined with an affinity for jade, gold and diamonds will fuel demand, the diamond center's Epstein said.
China is now ranked second-largest consumer of polished diamonds after the US, with US$5 billion worth of sales a year, Epstein added.
The country didn't appear on Belgium's list of top seven polished diamond export destinations in 2008, according to data on the center's website.
"We see that consumption in China is increasing every year by about 25 percent," Epstein said in Beijing yesterday. The center manages 80 percent of world trade in rough diamonds and half in cut diamonds, according to its website.
China, which overtook Japan to become the world's second-largest economy in 2010, is set to displace India this year as the biggest gold user on an annual basis, the World Gold Council said on Thursday.
De Beers, the supplier of about a third of the world's rough diamonds, reported a 27 percent increase in sales last year on higher demand for the luxury gems in the United States, China and India.
The expanding middle class combined with an affinity for jade, gold and diamonds will fuel demand, the diamond center's Epstein said.
China is now ranked second-largest consumer of polished diamonds after the US, with US$5 billion worth of sales a year, Epstein added.
The country didn't appear on Belgium's list of top seven polished diamond export destinations in 2008, according to data on the center's website.
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