December 19, 2024
News: US retail steady as holiday season reaches peak. US wholesalers focusing on selling rather than buying. India overseas sales slow. Strong premiums for round, 2.50 to 2.99 ct. diamonds. Fancies 3 ct. and larger hard to find. Rough market in crisis, with uncertainty about supply, demand and future prices. Tender prices under pressure. De Beers’ 2025 supply expected to decline 20%-30%, with reports of about 10 sightholders losing allocations, mostly in producer countries. De Beers tells sightholders to split purchases evenly between 1H and 2H. US total Nov. retail sales +3.8% YOY to $724.6B. US sanctions 28 people and companies involved in gold smuggling. Happy holidays to everyone.
Fancies: Fancy-shape prices stabilizing. Prices firm for 2 ct. and larger. 3 ct. and larger fancies hard to find. Good US orders and price increases for elongated Ovals in D-I, VS-SI diamonds with good shape and quality. Elongated Emeralds, Radiants and Pears in demand, with stable prices. 2.50 to 2.99 ct. trading at significant premiums in those shapes. Supply shortages supporting prices for Marquises. Square Cushions slow. Very well-cut fancy shapes difficult to find and commanding premiums. Off-make, poorly cut fancies illiquid.
Lucara Diamond Corp. has given names to the 2,488- and 1,094-carat rough stones it found recently following a contest in which more than 39,000 Botswana citizens weighed in on the moniker.
The miner has named the larger diamond, which it retrieved from its Karowe mine in Botswana in August, Motswedi, which means a water spring, or the flow of underground water that emerges to the surface offering life and vitality, in the local language, Setswana. The second stone, found in September, is called Seriti, which translates to aura or presence in Setswana and has deep cultural significance related to identity and legacy, Lucara said Wednesday.
The naming came following a contest the company opened to all citizens and residents of Botswana on November 22. During a two-week period, it received more than 39,000 entries, which were judged on creativity, originality, Botswana cultural significance, and relevance to the diamonds themselves.
De Beers has stripped around 10 sightholders of their rough-diamond allocations for 2025 and is planning to offer less rough overall, market insiders told Rapaport News on Sunday.
Those companies will retain their sightholder status, but the miner will not give them a consistent allotment of goods because they did not buy enough in 2024, the sources said. Several of them are in mining countries such as Botswana, where rough purchases and polished production have slumped this year, they added.
The total value of allocations next year will be 20% to 30% lower than this year, according to the sources’ estimates, reflecting a drop in production volume as well as a weakening of prices. The decline in volume will likely be gentler than this.
De Beers released its 2025 “intention to offer” (ITO) on Friday, informing sightholders how much rough they will likely receive during the year. De Beers reviews this annually, basing its decisions on clients’ past buying records as well as expected availability of production. Sightholders without an ITO can still obtain goods on an ad-hoc basis. Read more..
The organizers of the Facets 2024 conference in Antwerp deserved a good rest, but instead they found themselves being interviewed on the latest episode of the Rapaport Diamond Podcast.
The city welcomed more than 500 people from across the industry to hear speeches, panel discussions and more, with a common focus: how to secure the future of the diamond sector.
To reflect on the event, Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) CEO Karen Rentmeesters and vice president Ravi Bhansali shared their experiences with Rapaport’s Joshua Freedman, who also attended the conference. They discussed the messages that De Beers CEO Al Cook and Botswana President Duma Boko propagated in their addresses to the audience, as well as the topics that dominated the conference, from marketing to Group of Seven (G7) sanctions.
Rentmeesters and Bhansali spoke about prospects for Belgium’s diamond industry, which has suffered challenges as more business moves to other centers — first to India, then to Dubai. They emphasized Antwerp’s strengths, such as its compliance levels and its ability to serve the luxury brands. They contemplated the future of diamond conferences, which offer a different opportunity from trade shows, and expressed their main objective: that this podcast would get more listens than the blockbuster episode with AWDC president Isidore (Isi) Mörsel in August.
Listen to the podcast here:
If there was one session at last week’s Facets 2024 conference that summed up the focus and atmosphere of the event, it was the panel on “Unlocking the Value of Natural Diamonds.” Five participants joined moderator and industry analyst Edahn Golan to discuss the topic that dominated conversations inside the Antwerp Handelsbeurs: how to reinvigorate demand for the product.
This was firmly a natural-diamond conference, so the emphasis was on telling consumers the story of how the precious stones emerge from the earth, and whether commodity investors could be the industry’s savior.
One point of agreement was that many things need to change if the industry is going to sell more diamonds. Read more..
De Beers reduced rough prices this week, providing customers with the potential for greater profitability. But there are deeper concerns about the sightholder system. The company is trying to address some of these and generate greater returns on its investment in mining. Rapaport Senior Analyst Joshua Freedman reports. Listen here..
Sales at Signet Jewelers declined in the third fiscal quarter amid uncertain consumer demand and a slow engagement recovery, prompting a conservative outlook for the holiday season.
Revenue dropped 3% year on year to $1.35 billion in the three months that ended November 2, the US retailer reported Thursday. Net profit slid 40% to $7 million. Shares in Signet fell 11% in early trading.
The owner of Kay Jewelers and Jared attributed the downturn to store closures and the sale of its prestige watch business in the UK, as well as “impacts of the hurricanes in the southern US, a slower-than-expected engagement recovery, continued uncertainties in consumer spending patterns, and competitive pricing pressure.” Read more…
News: De Beers reduces rough prices 10% to 15%. Polished prices stable. Slow sales anticipated at Dec. sight, as prices are still higher than tenders. Alrosa responds with 10% price cut. Manufacturing margins expected to improve. Gem Diamonds says “inappropriate sales” in Botswana have impacted market for large rough. Polished trading steady amid holiday demand and shortages of sought-after items. Nov. RAPI: 0.30 ct. +1.6%, 0.50 ct. +1.4%, 1 ct. +0.1% as trend shifts after eight months of declines. Thanksgiving weekend beats estimates, with National Retail Federation reporting 197M US shoppers. Signet 3Q sales -3% YOY to $1.35B, profit -40% to $7M. Alrosa sells Angola mining stake to Omani fund. Read/Listen more..
