Sarine Technologies Ltd has updated its investing public on some positive developments in the diamond industry, mentioning the total rough diamond sales by major producers to about $ 500 mn in August; and the polishing activity back to 70-80% of levels before Covid-19 shutdown.
The August sales cycle of De Beers held last week has been estimated to have been just under US$ 300 million, very much in line with sales cycle 7 of August 2019 (US$ 287 million), the company’s press statement said. “However, it should be noted that 2019 was also a weaker than normal year due to rough diamond inventory and pricing issues - the relevant sales cycles in 2017 and 2018 were both just over US$ 500 million. Similarly, Alrosa has reportedly sold rough diamonds valued at some US$ 200 million during their August sales cycle. We believe that two factors drove this significant rebound in rough diamond buying by midstream manufacturers – the price reductions offered by the major producers (reportedly discounted 6-8% by DeBeers and in some categories of rough up to 10%) and the growing confidence in the midstream that retail activity will continue to recover as the end-of-year holiday season nears.”
The company claims the retail data from major retailers, such as Tiffany & Co. and Chow Sang Sang, show a near-total rebound in retail activity in the Asia Pacific market. Sarine also reiterates that the resurgence of U.S. retail activity is key to a full recovery of the diamond industry value chain.
Sarine claims that data available in the installed base of Galaxy® family inclusion scanning system, and its ubiquitous online rough planning systems showing that over 70 mn stones are processed annually confirm that manufacturing activity in the midstream has significantly increased.
However, Sarine cautions that U.S. total retail activity has yet to rebound. Consumer demand in countries hit hardest by the Covid-19 pandemic has been supported also by government largesse, which will not be sustainable indefinitely. Though inventories at the midstream level have been significantly reduced, there are still significant inventories in a range of categories e.g., smaller goods, spread throughout the pipeline from manufacturer to retailer.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
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