Industrial diamonds and cultivated diamonds are the main two types of synthetic diamond products. With the rapid increase in the penetration rate of cultivated diamonds and the limited supply of upstream equipment manufacturers and the limited overall upstream production capacity, the expansion of cultivated diamond production has compressed industrial diamonds to a certain extent.
China is the world's largest producer of synthetic diamonds. In 2020, the total output value of China's superhard material industry will reach 5 billion yuan, and China's diamond output will reach 20 billion carats, including 14.5 billion carats of diamond single crystals and micropowders, 2.44 million carats of gem-quality single crystals, and 5.87 million PCD. Diamond has reached the international advanced level. In 2020, China's diamond single crystal output will account for more than 90% of the global total.
Synthetic diamond production methods are divided into HPHT (high temperature and high pressure method) and CVD (chemical vapor deposition method). The main application scenarios include industrial diamonds and cultivated diamonds. Both types of products are produced by the same press, but the process formula is different. In the field of industrial diamonds, diamond single crystals and micropowders produced by high temperature and high pressure methods are mostly used to make tool products such as sawing, drilling, and grinding, and diamond single crystals produced by CVD are mostly used to make functional products such as chips and sensors.
Marginal changes: The high prosperity of cultivated diamonds squeezes the production capacity of industrial diamonds, and the supply of industrial diamonds is tight, or prices may rise.
Since 2020, the terminal consumption of cultivated diamonds has maintained a high boom. The total export volume of cultivated diamonds in India has increased by more than 100% year-on-year. The cultivated diamond business of diamond production enterprises squeezes the production capacity of traditional industrial-grade diamonds.
At the same time, the supply of upstream equipment manufacturers is limited, the downstream terminal industry demand is developing steadily, and the upward trend of industrial diamond price increases has emerged.
In April 2020, the Jiangxi Diamond Bits Association issued a notice saying that the price of diamond bits in 2020 will increase by 20% from the original price, kicking off the price increase.
