IDEX Polished Price Index: Decline Slows in September
October 07, 24
(IDEX Online) - The IDEX Polished Price Index recorded a modest fall in September, which could be an early indication of prices stabilizing. It was down 0.96 per cent, compared with 1.36 per cent in August and 3.12 per cent in July - its biggest fall of the year so far.
In China, the world's second biggest market for diamonds, state opposition to "conspicuous consumerism", together with a real estate crisis, are limiting demand. The much hoped for post-Covid bounce back hasn't happened.
Meanwhile, production in India is falling month by month, which is likely causing a little more price stability. India now earns more from smartphone exports to the US than it does from polished diamonds.
Global rough production is expected to drop by a third this year, as sanctions bite in Russia and De Beers sales remain subdued. In addition, lab growns prices are still plummeting, as demand increases.
The Index has been declining every month of 2024, by an average of -1.24 per cent. January and February saw the smallest drops - down 0.27 per cent and 0.30 per cent respectively.
The Index remains in overall decline. In August it dipped below the 100 mark for the first time since its inception in July 2004. Prices are now lower than they were 20 years ago. The Index peaked in early 2022 but the trend has been downwards ever since.
Month-to-month prices were down by 2.2 per cent in September, compared with 1.9 per cent in August. In July prices fell 3.1 per cent, by far the biggest fall of 2024. Prices have fallen every month this year except for a slight rise in January.
Year-to-year prices have been falling every month since December 2022, but since October 2023 the rate of decline has been slowing. The figure for September 2024 was -12.2 per cent, the smallest monthly drop for almost two years.
Month-to-month prices for all sizes shown fell below during September. Price drops for goods of 1.50-cts and below were slightly higher than August. Those for 2.00-cts to 4.00-cts were slightly lower. 4.00-cts goods showed a slight increase (0.1 per cent) in August but fell by 0.9 per cent in September.
Year-to-year prices for September were largely in line those for the last four months, with goods up to 3.00-cts down by between 8.6 per cent and 13.7 per cent. The biggest drop by far was among 4.00-cts goods, down 17.4 per cent.
Prices for goods of all sizes shown below fell during August, except for a marginal increase in 5.0-cts goods.
