Escalated Demand for Diamond-Based Jewelry Lifts Sales by 5%
Among regions, Asia-Pacific reported 17% surge in jewelry sales. This was mainly on account of increased demand for diamond-based jewelry in China.
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest quarterly statistical report published by the Russian Group Alrosa indicates notable jump in worldwide jewelry sales during the second quarter of 2018. The sales reported increase in all of the key markets, except India. The worldwide sales surged higher by 5% when compared with the corresponding quarter last year.
Among regions, Asia-Pacific reported 17% surge in jewelry sales. This was mainly on account of increased demand for diamond-based jewelry in China. The improved sales in Hong Kong and Macau on account of higher tourist traffic also contributed to the positive market. The diamond jewelry sales in North America and Japan rose by 5% and 3% respectively, when matched with Q2 2017.
The jewelry sales in India continued to remain subdued due to newly introduced Goods and Service Tax (GST) system. According to Dmitry Klimenko, head of the analytics department at ALROSA's Strategic Projects and Analytics Center, the share of Indian market is being redistributed among other stakeholders. The weakening of Indian currency versus the US dollar negatively impacted consumers’ purchasing power during the quarter, he added.
Compared with the previous year, the worldwide sales of luxury items have increased by 11% in Q2 2018. The Asia Pacific region recorded highest year-on-year growth of 19%, followed by Europe with 10% and Japan with 9%. The American region reported 5% growth during Q2 ’18.
The sales of diamond-based decorative jewelry continued its uptrend, Alrosa report said.