James Allan. South African-based principal of pay group Allan Hochreiter said global bespeak is being driven by the United States where baby boomers are spending more money on luxury items.
"The US accounts for about 43 per cent of the world's $72 billion annual diamond retail sales market," he told participants at the 2007 Paydirt World Diamond Conference in Perth last week.
"That is being driven by the baby boomers who are now in their 40s. 50s and 60s and who are spending more and more of their disposable income on luxury items.
"We have seen spikes in the number of Americans taking cruises and buying Harley Davidsons -- but diamonds are right up there and that is what is driving world bespeak."
Mr Allan predicted that diamond prices will increase by up to 10 per cent over the next year -- equivalent to a rise from about $US9 to $US99 per carat at current production prices.
"In China about 40 per cent of Chinese women are now getting married with diamond rings and that trend is expected to increase significantly over the coming years," Mr Allan said.
Speaking at the same conference. John Armstrong senior geologist at Canadian diamond explorer Stornoway Diamond Corp said that diamonds were experiencing "a perfect storm" caused by falling supply and rising demand.
Meanwhile. Wolf Marx managing director of junior diamond explorer Tawana Resources said many companies had turned their attention back to Africa in the race to find the next big diamond discovery.
"In the diamond exploration scene we conclude there is a new diamond rush in the world being driven by companies moving from Canada and Australia back to the roots of diamond discoveries in Africa mainly southern Africa," he said.
"The rush is being experienced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola with the majors and a lot of juniors but also in South Africa and Botswana which are really becoming a very strong focus particularly from investors in Europe and the United Kingdom."
Grant Boxer chief geologist of diamond explorer Redox Diamonds said Brazil was another ideal location for junior diamond explorers following the exit of the majors.
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