SURAT: Soon after the Mumbai serial bomb blasts of 13/7 rocked the diamond industry, came the shock of the Diamond Trading Company (DTC) hiking prices of rough diamonds across the board by almost 10 per cent.

Now, the industry is quite relieved as world diamond analysts and researchers have predicted that strong demand will underpin rough diamond price growth in the second half of the year.

Despite a sluggish global economy, prices of rough diamonds have gained more than 49 per cent in the first six month of this year. But the prices of rough diamonds may slow in the second half of the year after surging in the first following strong retail demand from India, China, UAE and the US.