If the president-elect’s policies do lead to increased demand for luxury items in the U.S., it would give a further boost to a modest recovery forecast for diamonds, De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver told Bloomberg.
“It’s likely to be positive, certainly in the short-term – lower taxes, more jobs, translates into more disposable income and translates into more diamond purchases,” Cleaver, said.
Meanwhile, De Beers expects rough diamond sales to be flat or slightly lower this year, partly because of U.S. dollar strength, before increasing “a little bit” next year, Cleaver commented.
De Beers rough diamond prices fell around 7 percent in the first half of 2016 but Cleaver said polished diamond prices had been “reasonably stable” in the second half of this year. The price outlook for next year probably isn’t “wildly out of kilter” with its sales forecast, Cleaver told the newswire.
In the long-term, the market will be strengthened by demand growth outstripping supply expansion by 2018 or 2019, he said. Exploration is difficult and there are no discoveries that would change a flat supply curve.
