Slower Decline for IDEX Polished Price Index in August

(IDEX Online) - The IDEX Polished Price Index dipped by 0.99 per cent during August, despite a short-lived spike ahead of the introduction of US reciprocal tariffs.

Overall the decline was notably more modest than in July, when the Index fell by 3.26 per cent.

August saw prices rise steeply on the 4th and 5th of the month, in the days before reciprocal tariffs (25 per cent on Indian goods) came into force on the 7th.

They then levelled for a few days and fell back more or less to their pre-spike levels. From then on, there was a gradual decrease until the end of the month.

It's not the first time we've seen a surge and plunge like this in recent months. The Index spiked at the end of June, ahead of the 9th July deadline for US trading partners to negotiate a trade deal to avoid tariffs.

It also spiked, though less sharply, after President Donald Trump's initial tariff announcement in early April.

The overall trend remains downwards, as it has for the last three years. At its 2022 peak, the index reached almost 155 (against a benchmark value of 100 when the Index was founded in 2004). In August 2025 it closed at 90.02.

Month-to-month prices were up marginally, by 0.3 per cent in August, following on from a 2.5 per cent dip in July. So far this year price drops have dominated. Any increases, like August, have been small.

Year-to-year prices showed further signs of stabilizing, down by a relatively modest 8.3 per cent in August after falls of 10.3 per cent, 10.9 per cent and 11.4 per cent in July, June and May respectively. Year-to-year prices have fallen every month since December 2022.

There were some prices increases in August, albeit modest, compared with across-the-board losses in July. The weighted average M/M (with each size's price change proportionally represented based on its market significance) was up 0.3 per cent, compared to a 2.5 per cent drop in July. After a 3.6 per cent drop in July, 1.0-cts were up by 0.8 per cent in August.

Year-on-year prices fell again, but by slightly less than last month in all sizes shown below except for 4.0-cts. The biggest drops were among the smallest goods (0.5-cts down 15.4 per cent)

The overall trend remains downwards, although some goods, notably 5.0-cts, increased during August.