IDEX Polished Price Index: Biggest Monthly Drop of 2024
July 04, 24
(IDEX Online) - The IDEX Polished Price Index fell by 2.00 per cent in June, its biggest and bumpiest drop this year, and its steepest monthly decline since last September (3.07 per cent). It's also almost double the near-straight line 1.02 per cent fall in May.
There is, however, some glimmer of hope, namely that month-on-month drops this year are notably less than in the last two years (see fourth graph below).
An ongoing global slump in demand coincides with turmoil at the two biggest players in the diamond industry, accounting for around 60 per cent of all diamond production between them. Alrosa is increasingly being hit by G7 and EU sanctions (all goods of 0.50-cts or above will be outlawed from 1 September), although it claims the countries imposing them will suffer more than it will. And the future of De Beers remains uncertain after parent company Anglo American said it would sell off the loss-making miner to focus on copper and other more profitable operations. That uncertainty could take up two years to resolve, according to Anglo.
On top of that, the rise in popularity of lab growns continues. They now account for almost half of all diamond engagement rings sold in the US.
The Index remains in overall decline despite a slight bounce last November and December.
Month-to-month prices were down by 1.3 per cent in June. They've been declining every month since April 2022, except for a sudden bounce in December 2023 and a slight rise in January 2024. In May they fell by 0.9 per cent.
Year-to-year prices fell 13.8 per cent in June, a marginally better performance than May (when they were down 14.2 per cent). June was the 19th consecutive month of year-on-year price drops.
Month-to-month prices for most sizes shown below suffered heavier falls in June than they did in May. One exception was 3.0-cts goods - down 2.2 per cent in May, but up 0.5 per cent in June. 4.0-cts goods also rose, by 0.6 per cent (compared with a 4.2 per cent rise in May).
Year-to-year prices for June were broadly similar to those for May, with 1.5-cts goods faring worst (down 16.3 per cent) and 5.0-cts showing the smallest loss (5.3 per cent, as against -0.8 per cent in May).
Prices for goods of all sizes shown below fell during June except 3.0-cts and 4.0-cts, which showed marginal increases.
