Stornoway Notes Weakness in Indian Demand

RAPAPORT... Stornoway Diamond Corporation's average price fell quarteron quarter in the three months ending September 30 due to weakness in theIndian market, it said last week. Prices of smaller and lower-quality stones have decreased sinceJuly due to challenging conditions in India, while larger and high-qualitycategories have remained strong, the company said. The miner's average price of$103 per carat was 7% lower than the previous quarter. Lower prices are likelyto continue for the rest of 2018, the miner added. "During the third quarter, we saw price weakness return tosmaller and lower-quality diamonds after more than a year of steady pricegains," said Stornoway CEO Matt Manson. "Underlying polished-diamond demandremains strong in the US market, but is being impacted by currency weakness inthe emerging markets amidst global trade concerns. This has put pressure oncertain segments of the rough-diamond trade." Attendance at Stornoway's tenders in Antwerp remains strong,and overall prices are still higher than during 2017 due to the robust marketfor more expensive goods, Manson added. Revenue fell 52% year on year to CAD 24.7 million ($18.9million) as the company sold 184,620 carats at two tenders during the quarter,versus 438,632 carats at the same number of sales a year ago. The average priceclimbed 8% year on year. Production at the company's Renard mine in Canada declined26% to 329,306 carats. Image: Stornoway's Renard mine in Canada. (Stornoway Diamond Corporation)