Dubai formally separates lab-grown from natural diamonds
Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) has launched a dedicated Lab-Grown Diamond Vertical. The move formally separates lab-grown diamonds from its natural diamond and coloured stone businesses. DMCC frames the decision around the distinct economics of lab-grown production — scalable manufacturing, technical specification and industrial utility — rather than geological scarcity.
For investors, that separation clarifies the investment thesis. Lab-grown diamonds will follow a different capital and technology cycle to mined stones. Each segment can now be assessed on its own fundamentals.
According to DMCC data, lab-grown diamond trade through the UAE reached a record 76.9 million carats in 2025. Volumes rose 91.5 per cent year on year. Trade value increased 7.5 per cent to US$1.3 billion. DMCC figures also show volumes have more than doubled since 2022, climbing 109 per cent from 36.8 million carats, with imports and re-exports expanding at broadly similar rates.
A US$30 billion market built on three dominant poles
Ahmed Bin Sulayem, executive chairman and chief executive of DMCC, positions the new vertical as market infrastructure for a sector of global scale. DMCC estimates the worldwide lab-grown diamond industry at close to US$30 billion. Three markets underpin it: China leads on industrial-scale production and research; India dominates chemical vapour deposition growth and processing; and the United States pioneered growth technology and remains the largest consumer market.
Japan, Israel and the United Kingdom are also established hubs for research, industrial applications and trade. As a result, Dubai’s platform connects regional investors directly into a multi-polar, technology-led value chain.
One analyst tracking DMCC’s commodities strategy puts it plainly: Dubai is repositioning lab-grown diamonds from a niche jewellery product into an organised industrial commodity with its own infrastructure and price logic.
What does the vertical mean for technology investors?
Bin Sulayem highlights that the most significant opportunity may lie beyond jewellery. He points to future demand in semiconductors, diamond wafers, quantum technologies, medical devices and aerospace. In those sectors, diamond’s thermal, optical and mechanical properties carry real commercial weight.
The Lab-Grown Diamond Vertical therefore serves two distinct audiences. It targets traders and jewellers. It also targets technology firms and industrial buyers that need predictable supply and precise specification. That dual focus sets this vertical apart from a conventional commodity desk.
The UAE’s broader diamond market adds context. Dubai’s total diamond trade reached a record US$41.7 billion in 2025, according to DMCC data, across 359.5 million carats of natural and synthetic stones. Meanwhile, the rapid growth in lab-grown volumes signals that synthetic and industrial diamonds are taking a larger share of that pool over time.
How DMCC is building the ecosystem
DMCC says the vertical will bring together producers, manufacturers, traders, investors, finance providers, technology companies and industrial users. It will operate with tailored standards and trading platforms separate from the natural diamond desk. Diamond Foundry has already established its international sales operations in Dubai under the DMCC framework.
DMCC has also hosted dedicated lab-grown symposiums. The next event is scheduled for 2027. However, the pace of industry clustering around the vertical — in R&D investment, specialised manufacturing and industrial procurement — will be the real measure of Dubai’s ambition. Institutional investors should track that build-out closely over the next three to five years.
Quick answers
It is a dedicated business unit within Dubai Multi Commodities Centre that formally separates lab-grown diamonds from natural diamond and coloured stone operations, with tailored standards, trading platforms and industry events for the lab-grown sector.
UAE lab-grown diamond trade reached a record 76.9 million carats in 2025, up 91.5 per cent year on year, with a trade value of US$1.3 billion, according to DMCC data.
Lab-grown diamonds have unique thermal, optical and mechanical properties that make them valuable in semiconductors, quantum technologies, medical devices and aerospace — sectors that need reliable, specification-grade supply.
