(IDEX Online) - It's a new year, and there's a new direction of travel.The IDEX Polished Price Index is finally on the increase after a long and steady decline from its post-Covid peak in March 2022.The last two months of 2023 saw the first green shoots of recovery. In December, for the first time in almost two years we saw an increase in month-on-month prices for all sizes up to 5.0-cts.So there is certainly room for optimism after a year blighted by a downturn in the global economy and weak consumer sentiment.Without doubt 2023 was a very challenging year. From January to December the monthly Index average fell by 16 per cent, compared with 7.5 per cent during 2022.It is now back where it was in 2020. It reached its highest point in over a decade in 2022, then nose-dived just as Russia invaded Ukraine.IDEX Online subscribers please click here to read the full report.