(IDEX Online News) – Prices of polished diamonds edged up slightly in May, according to the IDEX Online Polished Diamond Index. The index averaged 133.3 during the month, a 0.2 percent month-over-month increase.

 

The full analysis of the polished diamond prices is available to IDEX Online Research subscribers and IDEX Online members here.

 

High inventory levels in the trading centers, which tend to result in declining prices, and anticipation for good demand at the JCK Las Vegas Show, which tends to push prices up, balanced wholesalers' asking prices. Demand met expectations and buyers largely accepted wholesalers' prices at the JCK Show which concluded on June 3.

 

 

 

 

Price Trends

The index increased by 0.2 percent in May vs April 2013. This is only the second time this year that overall average polished diamond prices have increased. The previous occasion was in March, when prices increased 1.8 percent on a month-over-month basis.

 

Compared to May 2012, the IDEX Online Polished Diamond Index declined by 4.5 percent in May 2013. This is the eleventh consecutive month that the index has declined year-over-year.

 

Four-carat rounds increased 2.2 percent in May 2013 compared to May 2012, while the rest of the key sizes declined by 4.5-15 percent year-over-year. This is a yearlong trend.

 

On a month-over-month basis, the price index for round goods showed mixed activity. Rounds weighing 1-carat, 1.5-carat and 5 carats increased in price, while 0.5-, 2-, 3- and 4-carat rounds declined month-over-month.

 

 

 

For the second month in a row, the price indexes of Princess-shape diamonds declined on a month-over-month basis, further signaling that the long run of price increases is abating. Nevertheless, on a year-over-year basis the key-size Princess shape diamonds increased by a large single-digit.

 

 

Outlook

After months of forecasting a lackluster market in the short-term, we are now upgrading that forecast to a cautiously optimistic one, expecting an improvement in prices of polished diamonds in the second half of 2013.

 

In the long-term, we remain confident that polished diamond prices will increase when consumer demand grows as confidence in an improving economy resumes.

 

The full analysis of the polished diamond prices is available to IDEX Online Research subscribers and IDEX Online members here. Click here for more information on how to subscribe or become a member.