IDEX Polished Price Index: A 15th Month of Consecutive Decline

(IDEX Online) - Polished diamond prices were down yet again during May with the prospect of a global recession still looming large. The IDEX Polished Price Index, derived in real-time from actual global industry asking prices is now down just over 22 per cent on its peak in March 2022. It's been sliding ever since then. Last month it slipped by 1.27 per cent, down slightly from 1.47 per cent in April, although in March is lost only 0.98 per cent.

The overall picture remains gloomy. Midstream inventories are building as consumer demand slows, in response to inflation in the US and elsewhere. China's widely expected post-lockdown bounce hasn't materialized. And there is still the prospect of G7 sanctions on Russian goods, even though leaders failed to reach agreement when they met last month in Japan. De Beers' sales were down 20 per cent in May. It cancelled auctions because of poor demand and Petra held back parcels of over 75,000 carats at its May tender for the same reason.

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