The vote was initiated by Martin Rapaport, who acknowledged that he had received “hundreds of emails and numerous calls from leaders of the diamond industry,” many of whom expressed outrage about the reduction of prices, while others asked to suspend the price list.
Image credit: Diamant-Gems
In response to the drastic price cuts in the Rapaport Price List of March 20, quite a number of industry stakeholders refused to accept the new prices and started to remove their diamond inventories from RapNet, the Rapaport trading platform.
However, Martin Rapaport continued to maintain his position saying that “It is vital that the Rapaport Price List reflect the realities of the market even when such realities are not pleasant or welcome. We cannot protect the market from price changes and must maintain the credibility of our price information. It is important to note that the Rapaport Price List is used by buyers and not just sellers. Buyers require and expect Rapaport to reflect the lower price realities of the market. We cannot misrepresent prices for the benefit of sellers and we must not mislead buyers.”
Still, the industry’s broad protest followed by the vote resulted in the suspension of the Rapaport Price List till May 1, 2020, which is the first time in Rapaport’s 42-year history, according to Martin Rapaport, who said: “This is an extraordinary step we are taking as an act of solidarity with the trade.”
Victoria Quiri, Correspondent of the European Bureau, Rough & Polished, Strasbourg
