IDEX Online Research: Polished Prices Slightly Higher in February

(IDEX Online) – The IDEX Online Polished Diamond Index rose slightly in February to 134.2 compared with 131.9 in January. Round items were all up, apart from 1.0-carat goods which were unchanged.

The IDEX Online Polished Diamond Index began February at 132.6 and ended the month down slightly at 131.8 as is seen in the graph below. Prices were for the most part flat during the second month of the year, although there was a rise in the second half of the month which slipped back in the final days of the month.

A look at the wider picture shows that the index is roughly where it was in mid-2012.

Prices of polished goods made several attempts to move up last year, but failed to maintain the momentum. The first two months of this year, however, show that prices are again moving up. The coming months will provide evidence of whether this push can be sustained.

De Beers said, following the second Sight of the year, that Christmas and Chinese New Year sales had been solid providing a firm base for an increase in polished prices.

Outlook

The value of goods sold at the second Sight of the year, held last week, is estimated to have been of around the same size as the first Sight at around $730 million.

A leading Sightholder with operations in several of the global diamond centers said that rough prices were relatively stable across all categories. "Having said that, rough prices have been pretty strong this year which is challenging for manufacturers as even though polished, too, has exhibited some form of strength, it hasn’t been in line with the move in the rough market.

"This in-equilibrium between the two markets squeezes the margins for manufacturers especially in Africa where our manufacturing costs are prohibitive to begin with. We didn’t find anything special or unusual about the Sight."