BHP Billiton Rough Price Hike Slows Mumbai Polished Sales

(IDEX Online News) - The 7% to 15% rough diamond prices increase at last week’s BHP Billiton auction has made Indian diamond dealers reluctant to sell polished at current prices. The Indian market also widely anticipates a further price rise at the next auction, leading wholesalers to dig their heels in even more.

The reluctance to sell polished diamonds further slowed down trading in an already slow market as many are off on summer vacations. This has meant that transactions have slowed to a snail’s pace.

There is, however, a very positive outlook for the upcoming JCK Las Vegas show. The Indian market is using it as a barometer to gauge whether this year’s Christmas sales season — due to kick off among wholesalers in late August — will be good or not.

Another unusual phenomenon is that many Indian diamond dealers want to visit the Vegas show to buy polished diamonds. Given that polished diamond auctions in the U.S. have had a strong showing in the recent past, Indian dealers hope to see some of the polished from those sales at Las Vegas.

The summer Hong Kong show, due to kick off on June 23rd, has also generated a lot of preparatory activity in the Mumbai market.