Regarding this issue, Lao Dong Newspaper had an exchange with expert Tran Duy Phuong - Director of Golden Fund Jewelry Company.
Since the beginning of August, some diamond stores in Ho Chi Minh City have announced that they will reopen, but in fact only one store has kept its commitment, while many places continue to close. What is your assessment of the current situation?
- The diamond market is falling into crisis. Unlike gold, which has relatively fast liquidity and can meet customer buying and selling needs, diamonds have very slow liquidity. Domestic buying power is currently almost non-existent, mainly selling.
When businesses buy diamonds from customers, they also have difficulty reselling them abroad or through other channels, due to the low liquidity of this item.
Therefore, stores that previously had quite large sales are finding ways to manage, including plans to temporarily suspend operations, switch to online sales or quit completely to wait for the market to recover. Besides, there are also stores that choose to dissolve.
For stores that want to reopen, they mean they must continue to buy diamonds from customers. When they have agreed to buy back, when the deadline comes, they still have to pay customers. This is what causes businesses to be stuck in liquidity, unable to manage and forced to dissolve or not yet able to determine the time to reopen.
According to you, can the diamond market recover in a short time?
- I think the current diamond market crisis is only temporary. However, perhaps it will be next year, which is about 6 months, when the market can gradually regain confidence.
When the State strengthens management and rectifies the market, this may also become a new opportunity for businesses that want to participate or stores that want to reopen. Then, the market will be safer.
In any market, after a crisis, it takes time for things to calm down. I think diamond prices are currently quite low and attractive. If the market recovers, diamond stores or chains can still operate as well as before.
For customers who own diamonds purchased from closed stores, while many other stores do not purchase diamonds from other places, what advice do you have for this group of customers?
- Those who are holding diamonds of closed, dissolved or unknown stores will certainly be very confused and worried.
However, I think customers should remain calm. If they are too worried and do not know whether the diamond they own meets quality standards or not, they can take it for independent inspection. Currently, there are still many inspection units to determine whether the diamond meets standards and quality or not.
If the inspection results show that the diamonds meet the standards, customers can rest assured to keep them, waiting for the diamond industry to overcome the difficult period. When the market recovers, diamond products can still regain value in the coming years.
I think around mid-2027, the diamond market may start to show good signs again. Therefore, customers do not need to worry too much.
In the current period, inspection units must work more meticulously and better. Therefore, customers can proactively inspect to know if their diamond is of the right quality or not. If the results show that the product meets the standards, there is no need to worry too much, the most worrying thing is that the actual quality is not consistent with the information provided.
