Latest update April 1st, 2025 5:37 PM
“Demand for diamonds declining” – Natural Resources Minister says world turning towards artificial jewellery
(Demand for diamonds declining, Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat said at the sidelines of Parliament on Friday.)
By: Davina Bagot
Kaieteur News – The world is losing its interest in diamonds and is leaning more towards artificial jewellery. This is the summary of an explanation provided by the Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, who was asked if the government of Guyana was concerned about the tumbling diamond declarations recorded over the past three years.
The government’s 2024 Mid-Year Report indicated that the sector declined by some 23.9% during the first six months of 2023. In a more detailed report, the Bank of Guyana (BoG) revealed that in the first half of 2022, some 49,016 metric tonnes (mt) of diamond were declared, followed by 38,608 mt during the same period in 2023 and 29,387 mt this year.
Minister Bharrat at the sidelines of Parliament on Friday was asked whether government launched a similar investigation into the low diamond declarations, as it did for the gold sub-sector.
He however explained, “If you are following what is happening on the World market, it’s not only Guyana, the diamond trade has suffered worldwide- like manganese- it has suffered worldwide. The world market price is very low and as an indication of that you will realize that not much of our miners now are into diamond mining.”
Bharrat added, “…and mainly too because of the ‘lab diamonds’ that are being created by many other countries around the world. There are so many other forms- I don’t want to say minerals, but elements that are being used as jewellery to replace diamonds that it has created a kind of unfair competition, because at the end of the day it’s not real but generally on the world market there is a problem. It’s not only Guyana.”
When asked if the decline was a major concern to government given the trend globally, the Minister said there was no abundance of diamond miners. He also told this newspaper that there are no indications that smuggling of diamonds is ongoing.
“We have no such report of it but it cannot be ruled out. We are looking at the situation but for a number of years now it has been on the decline so I don’t think it’s a major concern,” Bharrat noted. He said a lot of focus is on gold presently as this sector provides employment for a large number of Guyanese. Additionally, he pointed out that the demand for that commodity remains high on the global market.
Like diamonds, gold too has suffered declines at the mid-year mark over the last three years. According to Central Bank’s 2024 Half-Year Report at June 2022 gold declarations were 236,728 ounces, followed by 209,756 ounces in 2023. This year, the declarations during the first six months of the year fell further to 188,160 ounces.
(“Demand for diamonds declining” – Natural Resources Minister says world turning towards artificial jewellery)
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