Leviev: Prices of Rough Diamonds Rise 10% in March
March 30, 09
Rough diamond prices rose 10 percent in March compared to February, a result of the drop in production, Israeli diamond tycoon Lev Leviev told the Israeli press Monday.
According to Ha’aretz, Leviev blamed the banks for the “slowdown, panic and confusion” in the diamond industry in November of last year, when the full impact of the economic fallout hit diamond traders. “The decrease in retail sales totaled 15 percent and rough diamond production was reduced by 70 percent,” he added.
Banks, according to Leviev, have ‘lost their nerve’ and reduced credit extended to the diamond industry. “As a result of that, prices fell sharply and bodies such as De Beers and Alrosa reduced production.”
Leviev, Israel’s largest diamond exporter in the past several years, has reduced staff at his polishing plant in Namibia, currently employing only about 30 people.
Africa Israel Group, the publicly traded real-estate company Leviev controls, posted on Sunday an annual loss of $1.16 billion, the largest in Israeli history. The company ended 2007 with a $1.1 billion profit.