Prices of rough diamonds have gone up by up to 10% “in recent days” as the new COVID-19 strain Omicron “grips Botswana and South Africa, home to some of De Beers’ biggest mines,” IDEX Online reports.
According to reports, Indian manufacturers are holding back their stock “because of concerns about the prices they’ll have to pay for new rough supplies.” So far, polished prices are unaffected.
Vipul Shah, vice-chairman of the GJEPC (Gem &Jewellery Export Promotion Council), is quoted as saying to The Economic Times in india that “[…] the situation was getting normalised, but now this new variant of COVID-19 has surfaced in South Africa and Botswana. It will put further pressure on the supply side.”
