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Gold/Mining/Energy : SOUTHERNERA (t.SUF) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: the Chief who wrote (2007)	9/9/1998 3:18:00 PM
From: PHILLIP FLOTOW	Respond to of 7235

To all: This slipped by me while we took Monday off: Monday September 7, 8:43 am Eastern Time INTERVIEW-Asia, Russia not rocking gem trade By Anusha Attygalle COLOMBO, Sept 7 (Reuters) - The global gem and jewellery trade has not lost its lustre despite economic crises in East Asia and Russia, a leading U.S. industry official said on Monday. ''There has been a steady increase in demand for coloured stones and jewellery,'' Nanette Forester, president of the American Gem Trade Association, told Reuters in an interview. ''The East Asian crisis has not impacted and it is too early to call the Russian problem a problem,'' she added. ''Ours is an industry where prices are dependent mainly on supplies and we've not seen a drastic fall even after Asia's problem.'' Russia is not only a producer of diamonds but is also a large consumer of gemstones. Forester was in Colombo for a four-day trade show, the Eighth Sri Lanka Gem and Jewellery Show (FACETS '98), organised by the Sri Lanka Gem Traders Association. It ended on Monday. ''FACETS is an ideal opportunity for the Sri Lankan trade to show the magic that is their gemstones and for suppliers from all round the world to network and mitigate any problems that may arise due to the global economic slowdown,'' Forester said. ''Sri Lanka is well positioned to grow its industry in the future,'' she added. But local officials have said the Asian economic crisis has hit Sri Lanka's gem trade, with exports of calibrated and treated stones falling sharply. Crisis-hit Southeast Asian countries form 70 percent of the market for Sri Lanka's gems, the officials said. Sri Lanka's gem exports for the first five months of calendar 1998 totalled 266.3 million rupees ($4.02 million) against 992.6 million in the same period last year, industry statistics show. Sri Lanka's gem exports fell 7.5 percent to 1.385 billion rupees last year from 1.499 billion in the previous year. But last year's fall was much lower than the decline in 1996 when exports fell 25 percent from 1.991 billion rupees. But exports to the United States in 1997 rose 31.6 percent. Forester said there was a move in the industry towards emphasising jewellery with a mix of coloured stones. ''A single piece of jewellery need not even have any diamonds on it if it can be coloured with a mix of stones,'' Forester said. ''We are seeing much more demand out of the U.S. for coloured stones because of the trend in fashion. Fabrics are plain while fashionable jewellery is augmenting the garment,'' she said. ''Countries like Sri Lanka with a host of coloured sapphires would be wise to catch the trend,'' she added. Sri Lanka is famous for its blue sapphires. A 400-carat blue sapphire called ''Blue Belle,'' which adorns the British crown, is from the Indian Ocean island. Sri Lanka in July put on auction a huge 850-carat uncut blue sapphire but bids were not accepted. ($1 = 66.25 rupees) Another story refutes a story on Lazare Kaplan that I posted last week; I will sent it to anyone interested. PHIL