Diamond market overview
General sentiment in the polished market is positive with traders reporting healthy demand and strengthening prices. Some said large stones in particular were in strong demand. Many traders are preparing for the annual Basel Watch and Jewellery fair later this month. Meanwhile, the main PolishedPrices index posted solid gains over the past week, opening at 145.69 points on Friday compared to 143.39 on Monday.
Rough market
The rough market has showed no signs of slowing down. Alrosa reportedly increased prices by around 5 – 6% during its March sale. Customers of Alrosa said the increase had eroded premiums on Russian goods in the secondary market, as opposed to De Beers’s goods, which continued to generate premiums. “DTC [De Beers] is back to being the flavour in town,” said a sightholder. The main focus is on the De Beers sight, or sale from April 1 – 4.
Corporate and events
The Antwerp World Diamond Centre wants to sell 12 million carats of diamonds from Zimbabwe this year, which would make the southern African country one of the six biggest suppliers to the Belgian-based trading group, Bloomberg reported. Zimbabwe conducted two auctions at Antwerp, in December and in February, realizing $10.5 million from sales of 279,723 carats and $70 million from 959,931 carats, according to the country’s Ministry of Mines. The centre has also proposed a memorandum of understanding with the government to clean and sort the precious stones, leading to the creation of a diamond hub in the country, Chief Executive Officer Ari Epstein said in a March 13 interview in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, said the Bloomberg report.
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Allocations to existing Sightholders also adjusted in line with availability and prevailing demand The De Beers Group of Companies announced the qualification of five new Sightholders for the remainder of the 2012–2015 Supplier of Choice (SoC) contract period.De Beers’ modified SoC re-planning process, announced in 2011, enables non-Sightholder businesses that have demonstrated sufficient demand through De Beers’ auction sales in 2013 to qualify for Sightholder status and term contract supply (subject to availability).
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