Jewellers ‘positive’ on 2017 gold demand

Demand for gold jewellery in Qatar is expected to show an upward trend this year as major jewellery outlets here forecast a “positive year” for sales, according to industry sources.
Despite sluggish retail activity in the past financial year, there are “positive” indications of a “stronger appetite” for gold jewellery in Qatar this year, particularly during the first quarter, said Malabar Gold & Diamonds regional head Santhosh TV.
“The overall market condition is improving. However, in the last financial year prior to the Diwali festival in 2016, demand for gold jewellery was down by around 35% but after the festival, consumer appetite started to pick up and one of the factors for this was price of gold jewellery,” Santhosh told Gulf Times.
In a recent statement, Malabar Gold & Diamonds officials said the current price of gold jewellery “is ideal for buyers.”
Shamlai Ahamed MP, managing director – International Operations at Malabar Gold & Diamonds, said: “Data from our own sales across the network shows that we have acquired more customers last year – who purchased from us for the first time – that compensated for the lower average purchase transaction value.”
T S Kalyanaraman, chairman and managing director at Kalyan Jewellers, said gold jewellery accounts for nearly 90% of the company’s overall business in Qatar.
“We have also seen traction for diamond jewellery and our endeavour is to generate 15% of our overall revenues from this segment. We do not deal in bullion sales per se and only cater to customers who are looking to buy jewellery for adornment for everyday wear or for special occasions,” he said.
Since launching operations in Qatar last year, Kalyanaraman said the company’s focus is to grow its business in Qatar by 3% to 5% annually “as we are currently in the investment mode in this market.”
Asked about Kalyan Jewellers’ plans for Qatar in 2017, he said: “We expect to grow our business by 3% to 5% for our seven showrooms in Qatar.
In a short span of time we have been able to establish a strong footprint and these seven showrooms allow us the flexibility to rapidly scale up our operations in Qatar.
“The brand has resonated extremely well with the local communities and this vindicates our decision to open seven showrooms on a single day for our foray into Qatar.
We are further expanding our product portfolio, including launching Arabic themed collections.”
On the current market sentiment for gold jewellery in Qatar, Kalyanaraman added: “Qatar has a long tradition of jewellery.
It is also one of the most sophisticated markets for luxury products in the GCC and needless to say offers great potential for branded jewellery players like Kalyan.
We are committed to this market and hope to make a significant net contribution to the local economy and help position Qatar as a hub for lifestyle jewellery.”