Image credit: AGD DIAMONDS
Alexey Moiseev, Russia’s Deputy Finance Minister told PRIME Business News in an interview yesterday that the global diamond market is improving and said that diamond prices will recover by 5% -10% next year.
Noting a soaring growth in demand at the end of the year for diamond jewelry in the global market, he said: “It's a fact that it is coming to life. We see that the market has started to feel much better. The sharp jump in demand at the end of the year, of course, does not offset the disastrous second and third quarters, but it gives the industry a chance to take a break and avoid large new bankruptcies."
The deputy minister went on to clarify that he was referring to diamond dealers caught between diamond manufacturers, who were experiencing lower margins due to low rough prices, and jewelers, who also shed margins, resulting in a string of bankruptcies among diamond dealers in 2019. “But now the market has cleared up, we see consolidation. On the whole, we see that the diamond market has survived,” Alexey Moiseev said.
At the same time, he believes that the market situation should be further monitored to find out whether this growth reflects the deferred demand that manifested itself in the runup to the holiday season, or it is a kind of steady demand, a return to the trend.
“A lot will depend on the Christmas season in Europe and the United States, and then the Chinese New Year and so on. The first quarter of next year will be remarkably interesting. If it will be stable, free of bad news, then pricewise, we expect that the market will recover next year by 5% -10%,” said the deputy minister of finance.
Vladimir Malakhov, Rough&Polished
