The diamond market faced a sharp decline in prices throughout September, as slow retail sales and increasing competition from synthetic diamonds took a toll, Rapaport said in a press release. Despite reduced production, polished diamond inventories remained high compared to sales expectations.
The RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI™) for 1-carat diamonds fell 5.2%, making it the worst month for that category since the peak of the Covid-19 downturn in March 2020. The 0.30-carat RAPI dropped 3.5%, while the index for 0.50-carat goods slid 7.1% and 3-carat diamonds declined 2.5%.
The RAPI only reflects D to H colours and IF to VS2 clarities. Prices for 1-carat, D-L, SI1-SI2 items on RapNet fell 6.8% during September.
Fancy shapes lost value at a slower pace than rounds, with marquises showing the best price performance and cushions the worst, Rapaport said.
| RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI™) | |||||||||||
| Index | September | Year to Date
Jan. 1, 2023, to Oct. 1, 2023 |
Year on Year
Oct. 1, 2022, to Oct. 1, 2023 |
||||||||
| RAPI 0.30 ct. | 1,423 | -3.5% | -4.0% | -5.8% | |||||||
| RAPI 0.50 ct. | 1,939 | -7.1% | -27.4% | -31.6% | |||||||
| RAPI 1 ct. | 6,067 | -5.2% | -19.5% | -25.9% | |||||||
| RAPI 3 ct. | 22,173 | -2.5% | -10.7% | -15.3% | |||||||
© 2023, Rapaport USA Inc.
US sales were sluggish ahead of the holiday season, while Chinese shoppers were reluctant to splurge on diamonds with the economy under pressure, Rapaport noted. Mainland buyers made few purchases at the Jewellery & Gem World Hong Kong show, in line with the trade’s low expectations. The Jewish festivals also impacted activity in key trading centres. The industry also expressed its solidarity with Israel in early October during the country’s war with Hamas.
The rough diamond market remained uncertain, with Indian trade bodies calling for a temporary halt to rough-diamond imports from 15 October to 15 December in an effort to reduce inventories and stabilise prices. The effects of this move are expected to be felt in the industry in the coming months.
De Beers’ September sales totalled just $200 million. The miner said it would provide “full flexibility” at the final two sights of 2023 and suspended its online rough auctions for the rest of the year.
Probable restrictions on Russian diamonds prompted manufacturers to offload polished sourced from that country, Rapaport informed. De Beers’ Tracr platform and Sarine Technologies are jointly creating a system that would let Group of Seven (G7) countries view the full provenance of diamonds at Customs, simplifying the process of rejecting Russian diamond goods, it said.
