Gem and Jewellery Industry Analysis

Jump to: PESTEL Analysis of the Jewellery Industry

The Indian Gem Jewellery sector is one of the most dynamic and fast growing sectors of the Indian Economy. The gems and jewellery sector in India is unorganised and fragmented. Around 90% of the players operate in the unorganized sector. This was a unique step in an industry where traditional business environment exists. The company’s operations are universal in scope and global in spread covering all facets of diamond and jewellery manufacture and trading in rough and polished stones, at all key locations worldwide.

The Indian gems and jewellery sector is pre-dominently dependent on the US markets, which is its top export destination. This research comprised of activities like listing down various agencies like manufacturers, distributors, etc and also chambers and libraries like the Indian merchant chambers and interacting with them in order to gather first hand information. Diamond jewellery is increasingly serving as a fashion statement for the affluent to differentiate themselves from others wearing traditional jewellery/gold jewellery. The macro environment includes all relevant focus outside a company’s boundaries relevant in thesense that they are important enough to have brought on the decision. An industry ultimately makes aboutits business model and strategy.

Growth and evolution of diamond, gems, and jewellery industry

The Indian Gem & Jewellery Sector is one of the most dynamic and fast growing sectors of the Indian Economy. The fact that India is the world’s largest source for trained, skilled and adaptive manpower along with liberalised government policies that provide a conducive environment for bi-lateral businesses, is what contributes to the continuous growth of this sector. Contributing around 19% to the over all Forex kitty of the country, the industry’s growth over the years, can be attributed primarily to the continuous efforts put in by.

Set-up in 1966, the GJEPC has over the years effectively moulded the scattered efforts of individual exporters to make the gem and jewellery sector a powerful engine driving India’s export-led growth. This apex body of the gem & jewellery industry has played a significant role in the evolution of the Indian gem and jewellery industry to its present stature.

From being the world’s largest manufacturer of cut and polished diamonds to becoming the leading international trading center, India’s gems and jewellery sector is now set on a growth trajectory. The exports grew by 38% to $14,329.23 million for January-December 2004 period as compared to $10,392.83 million in the corresponding period the last year. GJEPC aims to boost exports of gems and jewellery to US $20 billion by 2007 and develop India as the only one-stop-shop for gems and jewellery. Also, on the anvil is the Bharat Diamond Bourse, one of the largest monoliths ever to be built in Asia. The Bharat Diamond Bourse is an urban conglomerate of place, people and activities pertaining to diamond trading. Built to provide world-class facilities to the members of the Indian diamond community, the complex aims to enhance the already predominant position of the Indian diamond industry in the world market

PRODUCT PROFILES

GILI

Gili jewellery is high quality, fine finished, machine-made, branded, diamond-studded, designer jewellery including pendants, earrings, rings and bracelets in 18k gold studded with small, well-cut, good quality diamonds, as matching sets or by themselves. The average sale price is around Rs.15, 000.

• Brand Values

Gili’s brand values are genuine diamond and gold jewellery at affordable prices. The Brand personality is sophisticated, enthusiastic, competent, confident, extrovert, self made, successful and reliable.

• Noteworthy

Gili was the brand that in India elevated Valentine’s Day to ‘the date’ from it being just another date on the calendar. First jewellery brand from India to participate in Basel 2000, the World’s biggest jewellery and watches exhibition held in Switzerland. In September 2011, M/s Brand Finance PLC (UK) valued Gili at rs 1018 crores.

Nakshatra

Nakshatra is a circular cluster comprising six to nine stones, with the central stone larger than the stones surrounding it, signifying a constellation. It is a modern, fashionable rendition of the traditional seven-stone ‘Thodu’ and the ‘Kuda Jodi’ jewellery, which are traditional Indian floral designs. The combination of traditional charisma and contemporary style helped it gain acceptance with women across age groups.

• Brand Values

Overt Nakshatra brand values include beauty, radiance, class, elegance and quality. Amongst the symbolic values are femininity, celestial splendour and mystery. Each design is a stylized interpretation of the basic traditional ‘kudajodi’ which is believed to be auspicious, showering the wearer with blessings and good luck.

• Noteworthy

The Nakshatra design is the only one to have universal appeal amongst women across India. The diamonds used to make up the Nakshatra cluster were formed over 800 million years ago. In September 2011, M/s Brand

Finance PLC (UK) valued Nakshatra at Rs. 1,014 crores.

ASMI

The design styling for the Asmi jewellery has always been that of curvilinear forms around a central stone of and above 5 points. It rightly personifies the woman of today and her inner fire. Asmi has under its patronage a range of distinctive, contemporary yet affordable designs in diamond jewellery.

• Brand Values

From the outset, Asmi has aimed to fulfil every woman’s innate need for self-expression, and has lauded the Indian woman’s “inner fire”. Asmi is a brand that is “for the woman of spirit”, commemorating her success and inspiring her to achieve higher goals. It is an expression of the power of femininity, reflection of confidence, attitude and the inner spirit of a woman. The brand is also promoted as one that offers “Authenticity, Affordability, Accessibility”.

• Noteworthy

A special annual promotional event has always been organized on Woman’s Day, as the most appropriate occasion to reinforce and reiterate the values and identity of the brand. In 2009, in association with FICCI Ladies Organisation, and an NGO- Fight Back, Asmi launched its Shakti Torch campaign on the occasion of Women’s Day 2009, to combat the problem of domestic violence in India. In September 2011, M/s BrandFinance PLC (UK) valued Asmi atRs. 406 crores

D’DAMAS

D’damas has multiple sub-brands, each unique in positioning & offering. The brand also has items in all categories-rings, earrings, nose pins, pendants, bangles, bracelets, necklaces, Tanmanya, Mangalsutra, half sets nd full sets. Each sub-brand under D’damas offers stylized and contemporary designs, conceptualized and created by an in-house team of award winning designers. D’damas is perhaps the only jewellery brand that has offerings in virtually all product categories, across all price points, for all occasions and emotions, thus covering consumers across age-groups and demographic classes.

• Brand Values

D’damas embodies luxury and high aspirations, bestowing on the wearer an aura of exclusivity and refinement. The vast variety of associated brands allows every customer a choice of jewellery to reflect her personality, tastes and to suit every occasion. There is gold and diamond studded jewellery matching various lifestyles, occasions and price points that cater to diverse customers. D’damas is committed to the highest levels of customer satisfaction. Every piece of jewellery comes with a special certificate of authenticity that assures of both the diamond and the gold content in the piece. D’damas jewellery is fully hallmarked and accompanied with a diamond certificate from IGI

• Noteworthy

Best Jewellery Designs- JCK and Vivaaha Gold Jewellery In September 2011, M/s Brand Finance PLC (UK) valued D’damas at Rs. 331 crores.

Demand driver of diamond jewellery

The demand drivers for the diamond processing and jewellery sector are as below:

• Increasing acceptability of diamond jewellery in the domestic market: Traditionally, jewellery in India has mainly been gold jewellery. Diamond jewellery is lesser accepted in India due to factors such as myths associated with diamonds being unlucky in certain instances and the higher cost of diamonds. This is now changing with an increased acceptance of diamond jewellery in the domestic market.
• Diamond as a fashion statement for the affluent: Diamond jewellery is increasingly serving as a fashion statement for the affluent to differentiate themselves from others wearing traditional jewellery/gold jewellery.
• Increasing affordability: Employment of women in the workforce has been increasing due tothe changing mindsets and increasing education levels among women. This has resulted inwomen having more impact on the purchase decisions; and women having also started purchasing jewellery for themselves as against earlier trends of jewellery purchase being primarily a family decision. Increased disposable income for working couples and lifestyle changes have aided this.
• Exports as a driver: As seen earlier, exports have been growing year-on-year and the 5 year CAGR (2002-03 to 2007-08) is about 13%. India currently produces around 95% of the world’s cut and polished diamond pieces. By carat weight, India is estimated to process 80%
• Value addition from processing to jewellery: Though India processes a large number of diamonds, most of them are re-exported after polishing. There exists scope to increase value addition through setting into jewellery (jewellery fabrication).

MAJOR PLAYERS

• Gitanjali Group: The Gitanjali Group was founded as a single company cutting and polishing diamonds for the jewellery trade at Surat, Gujarat, in 1966. It has become a pioneer among major diamond and jewellery houses. The Group has abandoned jewellery trade convention by launching multiple brands for multiple markets and price segments – brands include Nakshatra, D’damas, Collection g, Asmi, Sangini and Gili. It opened up distribution via superstores, department stores and other retail outlets at MRP, supported by international certifications of scientifically tested purity and authenticity, across India and in the world’s jewellery capitals. Operations of the Gitanjali Group span the globe, all the way from USA, UK, Belgium, Italy and the Middle East to Thailand, South East Asia China, and Japan.
• Su-Raj Diamonds & Jewellery Ltd.: ‘Su-Raj’ is derived from contraction of two names viz. Suresh and Rajnikant, the founders of Su-Raj Group in the early Sixties. The company offered its shares to the public in the year 1986 and became the first company in the industry to opt for public issue in India. This was a unique step in an industry where traditional business environment exists. The company’s operations are universal in scope and global in spread covering all facets of diamond and jewellery manufacture and trading in rough and polished stones, at all key locations worldwide.
• Suashish Diamonds Ltd.: Suashish Diamonds Ltd was incorporated in October 1988. Suashish is unique in the diamond industry as it is one of the few players that have activities across value chain thereby retaining higher margins. Its business activities include sourcing ofrough diamonds to retailing finished diamond jewellery through its retail jewellery brand “Ishi’s”. Suashish has employed cutting edge technology throughout its diamond andjewellery manufacturing processes. It has subsidiaries and strategic partnerships in all major markets.
• Shrenuj & Co. Ltd.: Shrenuj & Company Limited and its subsidiaries engage in the manufacture and sale of diamonds and jewellery in India and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Diamonds and Jewellery. The Diamonds segment engages in cutting and polishing of diamonds. This segment offers polished diamonds in full cut and single cut rounds, as well as in fancy shapes, such as princess, baguettes, marquise, pear, oval, emerald, and heart in various colours and clarities. The Jewellery segment provides diamond Human Resource and Skill Requirements in the Gems and Jewellery Industry studded gold/platinum jewellery. The company was founded in 1906, is based in Mumbai, India and employs about 3,000 employees.
• Tanishq: Tanishq is one of India’s leading jewellery brands. Started in 1995, Tanishq is the jewellery business of Titan Industries Ltd – promoted by the TATA group. Tanishq has set up production and sourcing bases with through research of the jewellery crafts of India. Tanishq today is India’s most aspirational fine jewellery brand with 91 stores in 64 cities, with an exquisite range of gold jewellery studded with diamonds or coloured gems and a wide range of equally spectacular jewellery in 22Kt pure gold. Exquisite platinum jewellery is also partof the product rangedian Gems and Jewellery

Issues of the Gems and Jewellry Sector

Unorganised Sector

The gems and jewellery sector in India is unorganised and fragmented. Around 90% of the players operate in the unorganised sector mostly in family-run operations. The nature of the sector prevents it from achieving economies of scale. Also, being largely unorganised, the sector mainly uses labour-intensive and indigenous technology that affects their growth prospects. Further, the sector finds it difficult to enhance their global competitiveness due to difficulties in adopting technologies as a result of inadequate financial capital and high labour costs per unit.

Threat from China

Currently, China is the second-largest diamond processing centre in the world after India; however, it is slowly catching up and is threatening to displace the Indian gems and jewellery sector from its dominant position in the world. The labour cost in China is the lowest, just like in India; however, the gap between the two countries is narrowing slowly. Besides, the Chinese economy is growing rapidly and is creating a demand for gems and jewellery in the domestic market. Further, many diamond manufacturers from Belgium and Israel are setting up manufacturing plants in China. India also faces threat from China in terms of technology adoption, which allows China to process diamonds at a more competitive price.

Predominance of the US market

The Indian gems and jewellery sector is pre-dominently dependent on the US markets, which is its top export destination. The growth of gems and jewellery sector is heavily dependent on the growth of demand in the US market. However, the recent appreciation of the rupee vis-à-vis the US dollar and a slowdown of the US economy have aggravated the concerns for the sector. All these factors necessitate India’s venture into other geographical locations. During FY07, the exports to the US market registered a growth of 14% over exports of FY06; however, owing to the slowdown in the US economy, the exports grew only 1.15% in FY08 over the previous year. In the current situation the heavy dependence on the US market has affected the exporters as they are facing a drop in orders and delayed payments.

Exchange Rate/Currency Risk

The gems and jewellery sector is affected by the rupee/dollar exchange rate because it is export-oriented. Any volatility in the exchange rates affects the margins of the players. For instance, the recent appreciation in the rupee against the dollar had made the exports of gems and jewellery less competitive in its key export destinations.

High Level of Inventories

As the gems and jewellery sector is highly dependent on imports for its raw materials, the players have to maintain a high level of inventory. However, maintaining this inventory becomes difficult for the players during the slack season, as it carries inventory price risk. For instance, due to the current recessionary trends, the demand slumped and inventory piled up much to the chagrin of the players.

Decreasing Diamond Reserves

The supply of rough diamonds is expected to fall in the near future as the diamond reserves are decreasing. There has been no major diamond reserve discovery since 2003, when reserves were last discovered in the Diavik Diamond Mine in Canada. The reduced supply will push up the prices of rough diamonds, which will further put pressure on margins. Future supply levels are largely dependent on the industry’s ability to identify new diamond deposits.

Competition from Other Luxury Goods

With the increase in disposable income and the change in standard of living, the demand for luxury goods such as perfumes, consumer electronics, leather, automobile, gadgets etc are also increasing. The gems and jewellery sector is experiencing competition from these luxury goods, which is eating into the market share of the sector.

Beneficiation in Mining Countries

India is facing a threat from the emerging cutting and polishing centres in the diamond-producing countries such as South Africa, Ghana, Angola, Botswana, Namibia etc. The local government is increasingly pressurising the African countries for processing locally-mined materials such as diamonds within the country itself to increase earnings through value addition to the vast natural resources that these countries possess. South Africa has launched a draft Beneficiation Strategy for the minerals industry of South Africa in March 2009. The newly-formed African Diamond Producers Association (ADPA) is advocating establishing a joint policy that would support beneficiation across Africa. This could lead to fewer rough goods being made available on the open market and in creating a threat to the existing diamond processing centres such as India, as new processing centres comes up.

Global Economic Slowdown

The global economic slowdown has hit the Indian gems and jewellery sector hard. As the sector was primarily dependent on exports to the US and European countries, the meltdown in these countries affected the gems and jewellery sector to a great extent. The players faced issues relating to inventory build-up and liquidity pressure. A number of diamond units in Gujarat were shut down that rendered thousands of workers jobless. Further, the bank finance, which was largely in dollar terms, also faced a setback due to foreign exchange rate fluctuations. This further added to the woes of the players who were struggling to come out of the global recession.

Even though the sector is in the recovery mode, owing to a gradual recovery of global markets, the credit cycle of the sector has changed drastically. The delayed payments from customers have raised the interest outflows for the companies.

Synthetic Diamonds

The sector also faces a challenge in the form of integration of synthetic or man-made diamonds. With the advent of technology, it is difficult to differentiate between natural and synthetic diamonds. It may so happen that the synthetic diamonds are passed on as real diamonds and in the long run, this could affect the credibility of the sector. Further, as synthetic diamonds are much cheaper and identical to the man-made diamonds, these diamonds may find a clientele that is a substitute to the natural diamond and may end up eating into the market share of the diamond industry.

Issue of Conflict Diamonds

India is the largest importer of rough diamonds and a leading player in cutting and polishing of the same, therefore, it runs the risk of dealing with conflict diamonds. Conflict diamonds are those that are mined illegally in African countries such as Angola, Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo to fund illegal military wars. In spite of the KP certification, there are issues related to fake KP certificate. These fake certificates put diamond importing countries at a risk of dealing in conflict diamonds.

Opportunities for the Gem and Jewellery Sector

Entering New Markets

The US has been the major market for Indian gems and jewellery sector over the years. However, with the current global slowdown, the dependence on the US market has affected the Indian gems and jewellery sector tremendously. The sector is exploring new locations to diversify business and to minimise the risk. Russia, Middle East and China are few of the emerging destinations that are witnessing an increase in jewellery demand. The Indian gems and jewellery players can tap these countries to diversify and increase their business.

Cutting and Polishing of Large-Sized Diamonds

India is one of the leading diamond processing centres of the world. India’s vast, low cost and extremely skilled workforce provides it with a competitive edge over other countries. However, it is predominantly involved in cutting and polishing of small-sized diamonds, which weigh less than one carat. India’s cut and polished diamond exports have a high global share in terms of number of pieces; however, in terms of value the share is much lower. By moving up the value chain and processing larger stones India can further increase its value share in total exports. Large diamonds are less commonly found in nature, therefore, the price of a diamond rises exponentially with its size. Indian exporters who have dominance in processing of small stones have already started moving into cutting of large and medium size stones. For moving up the value chain, the industry should try forward and backward integration. Hence strategic alliances with producers of roughs and retailers of jewellery could lead to higher market share.

Given India’s low cost and skill labours, there exists an opportunity for processing large stones, which will provide the players with higher margins as well as rise in realisations on capex.

Value Addition

There exists a huge opportunity for Indian players to do value addition to the processed diamonds and to export diamondstudded jewellery. India is already a leader in processing small-sized diamonds and it also has inherent capabilities of manufacturing hand-crafted jewellery. Further, with its dominance in processing small diamonds, India has an advantage of manufacturing affordable diamond jewellery for the world market.

Jewellery Retail

The Indian retail sector is growing rapidly. This provides an excellent opportunity for the Indian players to manufacture and sell their jewellery through the retail channels that are fast catching up in the Indian markets. Further, this move will also provide an organised structure to the largely unorganised gems and jewellery sector and lead to further growth of the sector.

Outsourcing Hub

India can become an outsourcing hub for designing and manufacturing jewellery. There is an increased trend of outsourcing designing and manufacturing of jewellery from India by global retail players such as Wal-mart and JC Penny. The players in the sector can tap this opportunity to diversify business, reduce risk and increase revenues.

Outlook

The outlook for the gem and jewellery sector is positive. On account of the global recovery, the Indian gems and jewellery sector is also on a recovery mode. In December 2009, the exports from the sector grew by 45.35% as compared with the same period in 2008. According to GJEPC, the players received good orders for Christmas in 2009, which indicates a gradual recovery for the sector. The positive trend is expected to continue, as major economies are showing signs of recovery, which is resulting in fresh orders for the sector.

Further, the gems and jewellery sector is also expected to grow in the domestic market, going forward. As the per capita consumption of jewellery is low in India, there exists an attractive opportunity to tap the domestic market.

ANALYSIS OF DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS IN VARIOUS SECTORS

The project involved analyzing and evaluating distribution channels of various companies belonging to sectors like:

1. Precious and semi precious stones,

2. White goods,

3. Cement,

4. FMCG

Methodology: –

This research comprised of activities like listing down various agencies like manufacturers, distributors, etc and also chambers and libraries like the Indian merchant chambers and interacting with them in order to gather first hand information.

Intoduction

The Indian Gems and Jewellery industry is an age old industry and comprises mainly of two types of markets, viz the organized sector and the unorganized sector. The organized sector with branded jewelers, Public Sector Units (PSUs), etc forms only 10% of the precious and semi-precious stones market, whereas, the unorganized sector forms 90% of the gems and jewellery market in India. The unorganized sector employs around 1.5 million workers serving over 0.1 million gold jewelers and over 8000 diamond jewelers. Precious and semi-precious stones industry is a significant earner of foreign exchange. This sector contributes around 17% of India’s exports. The bulk of the Indian gems and jewellery exports comprise imports of rough diamonds, cutting and polishing in India, and re-exports. Cut and Polished Diamonds

(CPD) and gold Jewellery account for nearly 95% of India’s gems and jewellery exports. India is the world’s leading diamond cutting and polishing center, accounting for 53% share of the global polished diamond market in terms of value. India imports gold from South Africa, Switzerland, Australia, Hong Kong and UAE.

The domestic consumption of diamonds have been 626.9 crores in 2001-02 to 483.4 crores in 02-03 and reached and all time high of 1771.3 crores in 2003-04 and the trend has continued in 2004-05 as well. The market size has also witnessed a rise of around 10% in 2003-04 over 2002-03. The value of domestic sales has been 7200 crores, 7400 crores and 7650 crores in 01-02, 02-03 & 03-04 respectively. Exports of cut and polished diamonds has been 5892, 7385 and 8240 million dollars in 01- 02, 02-03 & 03-04 respectively, whereas, exports of Jewellery studded with diamonds has been 553, 719 and 934 million dollars in 01-02, 02-03 & 03-04 respectively.

Consumer Demographics & Buying Patterns of Indian Consumers

There is a very high consumption in the western and the northern markets of India, viz, Mumbai and New Delhi, New Delhi being the leader. In India, the purchase of Jewellery is quite seasonal and occasion driven. There is a higher consumption during festivals like Diwali, Dassera, Ganesh Chaturthi, etc. and also during the marriage season, which is spread from November to March.

Mechanics of Distribution Channels of Sector

Since precious and semi precious stones industry is divided into organized and unorganized sector, the mechanics of the distribution channels of the players belonging to these sectors has also been different. Domestically, the branded jewelers of the organized sector cater to the consumers via a 1 or a 2 level supply chain which comprise of either only franchise retail outlets and other retails or wholesalers and then retailers. The players of the unorganized sector, on the other hand, either plainly sell their manufactured products to retailers or have branch offices in cities where the products are transferred and sold to end consumers or to retailers in the particular city.

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December 2005 Copyright © 2005 Bee Management Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. 2 Raw diamonds and other Jewellery is imported from sources, manufactured and polished here and either shipped or transported by air to the final destination In exported countries the products are either transferred to retailers who are clients or to branch office who in turn sell it to the retailers. Whether domestic sales or exports, overall, the levels of intermediaries in the gems and Jewellery industry do not really exceed 2 to 3 levels.

PESTEL analysis of Jewellery Industry

The macro environment includes all relevant focus outside a company’s boundaries relevant in thesense that they are important enough to have brought on the decision. An industry ultimately makes aboutits business model and strategy. Why many forces in the micro environment are beyond a company’s sphere of influence?Company’s strategy may be needed for answer it. Micro environment includes all general force that do not directly touch on the short run activities of the organization but that can and often does, in dulgenceits also ran decisions.

Political Factors:-

The Government of India (GoI) has been working to develop the Diamond industry in India through several initiatives but under the purview of Diamond industry. The main political factors are as follows.

• Excise duty: In the budget of year 2008-09 government reduce excise duty from 10% to 5% on cut and polished diamond units.
• Marketing and control orders: Import of rough diamonds controlled by the Jewellry export Promotion Councils .The Council provides market information to its members regarding foreign trade inquiries, trade and tariff regulations, rates of import duties, and information about Diamond fairs and exhibitions.
• FDI approval: India is now the third most favored destination for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Government of India may permits 49% of FDI in the Diamond industry. FDI of $ 2 billion are invested in terms of working capital in the industry.
• Government policies and taxation: From January 1, 2008. It has made the import of polished diamonds completely duty free. To reduce the transaction cost for the diamond sector, testing facility at International Diamond Laboratory (IDL), Dubai, has been incorporated in the list of laboratory/certifying agencies.

Trade Policy for Diamond

Replenishment Licences:

The exporters of gem and Diamond products are entitled for REP licence as per rates indicated in the Handbook of Procedures. Such licences are transferable.

Diamond Imprest Licence

:Diamond Imprest Licences are issued in advance for import of rough diamonds and for export of cut and polished diamonds. These licences or the materials imported against them may be freely transferred after the export obligation has been fulfilled.

Bulk Licences for Rough Diamonds:

Bulk licences for rough diamonds are allowed to any exporter whose annual average f.o.b. value of exports of cut and polished diamonds during the preceding three licensing years was not less than Rs.75crores and iv) any overseas Company with its branch office in India whose annual turnover in diamond during the preceding three licensing years is not less than Rs.150 crores.

• Import of raw material (rough diamonds) is highly affected by war and global market conditions.
• Fund contribution: As per current scenario to ease the liquidity problem in diamond industry the task force constituted by RBI..Task Force may propose asking banks to finance diamond manufacturers especially small and medium ones against their stock of polished diamonds.

Economic factors:-Per capita consumption

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