Citing plummeting demand for cut and polished diamonds in the West and China, the Surat Diamond Association has published a report that over 20,000 workers have been put out of work in the last one month in Surat, India.
Record high prices for gold (the price of gold rose 25% in the first half of 2016, its strongest performance in 35 years) has led to a record surge in H1 investment demand of 1,063.9t, which was 16% higher than the previous H1 high from 2009, as continued growth in Q2 2016 (+15%) brought total H1 gold demand to 2,335t - the second highest first half on record, according to the World Gold Council.