RAPAPORT... Alrosa believes rough-diamond demand could rebound by July or August, as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic eases in some regions."Today, we see diamond-jewelry sales bouncing back in China and other Asian markets, which is expected to drive diamond demand up as soon as July to August," Alrosa chief financial officer Alexey Philippovskiy said last week. However, the Russian miner...Read More
RAPAPORT... Rough-diamond sales will drop by 30% to 40% this year as Covid-19 restrictions have shut down the global supply chain, Moody's Investors Service projected.The market won't recover until the second half when social-distancing rules become looser, the ratings agency said last week. As a result, global rough revenues will decline to between $7 billion and $8 billion for 2020 amid low...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lending to India's gem and jewelry industry fell 18% during the past two fiscal years as the 2018 Nirav Modi banking scandal continued to fuel caution among banks, according to credit agency CARE Ratings.Outstanding credit to the sector declined 1% to INR 721 billion ($9.54 billion) during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2019, from INR 727 billion ($9.63 billion) on March 30, 201...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa blamed a Q1 plunge in profits of 87 per cent on revaluation of its foreign currency debt, and, to a lesser extent, COVID-19. The Russian state-owned miner reported a good start to the year and said prices were recovering, until the coronavirus pandemic in mid-February. Net profit for the first three months of 2020 were RUB 3.1bn ($45m), down from RUB 11.7bn ($170m) in Q4 201...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The five biggest diamond producers have excess inventories valued at an estimated $3.5bn.And that figure could rise to $4.5bn - four months' worth of annual rough-diamond production - according to Gemdax, the Antwerp-based diamond consultants and analysts.It is based on stocks held by De Beers and Alrosa - each producing around a quarter of the world's diamonds - to...Read More
RAPAPORT... Rough-diamond sales will drop by 30% to 40% this year as Covid-19 restrictions have shut down the global supply chain, Moody's Investors Service projected.The market won't recover until the second half when social-distancing rules become looser, the ratings agency said last week. As a result, global rough revenues will decline to between $7 billion and $8 billion for 2020 amid low...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A $25,000 fund has been launched to help independent jewelers who have been victims of looting in the USA. The appeal is being jointly run by the trade associations Jewelers of America and Diamond Council of America. The Jewelers' Relief Fund has so far raised $13,350, boosted by a $10,000 donation from the De Beers Group jeweler Forevermark US. Jewlelry stores in Minneapolis...Read More
Polished month-to-month diamond prices for May showed a marked increase of 0.6 per cent, the most significant rise since December 2018. For almost two years there has been a general pattern of decrease rather than increase, with prices plunging in March, down 1.7 per cent. Prices recovered in April (down just 0.3 per cent) and now, according to figures for May, they are actually increasing.IDEX On...Read More
RAPAPORT... Under challenging circumstances, the Natural Diamond Council (NDC) unveiled its new look, name and purpose on June 1, marking a complete transformation from its former identity as the Diamond Producers Association (DPA). Rapaport Senior Analyst Avi Krawitz spoke with the NDC's CEO, David Kellie, about the relaunch in the second episode of the Rapaport Group's "The Recovery" webina...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lending to India's gem and jewelry industry fell 18% during the past two fiscal years as the 2018 Nirav Modi banking scandal continued to fuel caution among banks, according to credit agency CARE Ratings.Outstanding credit to the sector declined 1% to INR 721 billion ($9.54 billion) during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2019, from INR 727 billion ($9.63 billion) on March 30, 201...Read More
(IDEX Online) - British miner BlueRock reports record output since it re-opened Kareevlei, in South Africa, after COVID-19 restrictions were eased.Production has been averaging almost 2,000 tons a day since 11 May 2020, up almost two-thirds on Q4 of 2019.Modifications to its ore-processing equipment have increased production at minimal cost and reduced operating costs at Kareevlei where five...Read More
RAPAPORT... Many US jewelers are coping with stolen property and the destruction of their premises following major looting sprees amid protests over the death of George Floyd."It was like a war zone," said Mark Clodius, owner of Clodius & Co. Jewelers in Rockford, Illinois, whose store was hit. "This has nothing to do with the protest. It was entirely for ill-gotten gain." Clodius, who ha...Read More
RAPAPORT... The LVMH board met on Tuesday to discuss its takeover of Tiffany & Co., fueling rumors that the $16.2 billion deal was less certain than before Covid-19.The panel of directors "focused its attention on the development of the pandemic and its potential impact on the results and perspectives of Tiffany & Co. with respect to the agreement that links the two groups," LVMH said...Read More
RAPAPORT... BlueRock Diamonds has reached record production at its Kareevlei mine in South Africa, after resuming operations last month.Output since May 11, when the deposit reopened following a Covid-19 lockdown, totaled 41,500 tonnes of ore, averaging 2,000 tonnes a day, the company said Wednesday. The new daily average is 65% higher than the previous record, which it achieved in the fourth...Read More
Hong Kong emerging as important trade center with some post-coronavirus demand from China. US market mostly shut. New York and other regional centers closed due to Covid-19. Riots and looting are keeping jewelry stores closed following tragic death of George Floyd. India slowly reopening with Surat operating at 70% but Mumbai in lockdown except for limited staff handling exports. Rough markets at...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Workers in Minneapolis fled in terror when looters threw a rock through their jewelry store window. A dozen staff were stashing valuables in a safe at R.F. Moeller Jewelers, in St. Paul, when company president Bob Moeller received a text warning from police that a mob was approaching. They escaped through a back door as looters smashed their way in with sledgehammers. The company&#...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa's long-term clients bought 102 of more than 800 large rough diamonds offered in the company's biggest ever digital tender.The remaining stones will now be made available to other customers to select from 5-10 carats batches.For the first time, the Russian state-owned miner sold diamonds online from boxes, piece by piece, in response to COVID-19 restrictions.It prov...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers has confirmed that Sight 5 will take place as planned, and says Sight holders will be able to attend in South Africa or Namibia if they're unable to travel to Botswana.The move comes after Sight 4, held as usual in Gabarone in early May, saw sales activity virtually wiped out by COVID-19 and the resulting travel restrictions. Sight 3, at the end of March, was ca...Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa sold 102 large rough diamonds at its latest digital tender, noting that there was still demand for its goods despite the coronavirus crisis."The results of the digital tender's first round show that demand for rough diamonds persists [in] the market, and our clients are ready to buy diamonds through the online channel," Alrosa deputy CEO Evgeny Agureev said in a statement...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lucapa Diamond Company has completed a rights issue that successfully raised AUD 5.25 million ($3.6 million) to fund its search for the kimberlite source of its high-value alluvial stones.The proceeds will help the miner excavate and process the first kimberlite samples from the Lulo area in Angola, where the company's alluvial mine has produced several large diamonds in recent ye...Read More