Weekly Market Report DIAMOND MARKET OVERVIEW Traders reported a quiet week of trading over the past week, as many offices close down for the summer holiday. Whilst the US market is providing a bright spot in the market for polished sales, traders said prices of polished were under pressure, mainly in the bread and butter type goods. Leading luxury goods conglomerate LVMH reported lacklustre first half year figures, impacted by a slowdown in China as well as economic uncertainty in Europe. Meanwhile, in the broader market, the main PolishedPrices index posted a gain during the week in light volumes, opening up at 142.30 on Friday, compared to 140.21 points at Monday’s opening. ROUGH MARKET Sentiment in the rough market is cautious. Traders are citing tight liquidity, high rough prices from the main producers and economic uncertainty as the main reasons. De Beers announced its half year sales figures, which were unchanged from the previous half year at $3.3 billion. The world’s largest supplier said output rose 7.6% to 14.3 million carats, while full-year production would be “broadly in line” with last year’s 27.9 million carats. CORPORATE AND EVENTS De Beers, the biggest diamond producer, said it’s counting on U.S. demand for jewellery in the second half as Indian and Japanese consumers contend with depreciating currencies, Bloomberg reported. “De Beers expects moderate growth in diamond jewellery demand in the remaining six months of 2013, supported by improving sentiment in the U.S. market,” the Anglo American Plc unit said in a statement. “Conditions in India and Japan remain more uncertain due, in part, to the continuing volatility of their currencies.” Read more here: bloomberg/news/2013-07-26/de-beers-counts-on-u-s-jewelry-demand-for-moderate-gem-growth.html China’s luxury prices may be astronomically high compared to those of the United States, Europe, and Hong Kong, but they’ve grown at the lowest rate seen in seven years, according to a new report, Jing Daily reported. Earlier, the Hurun Report published the Chinese version of its annual Luxury Consumer Price Index (CPI), which found that luxury prices have grown by 1.52 percent, a decline of 3.42 percent from last year and a seven-year low overall. The rate was lower than both that of inflation and of the general CPI for the country, the report said. Read more here: jingdaily/chinas-luxury-price-growth-stagnates-to-seven-year-low/31633/ Lucara Diamond Corp. announced that the Karowe Mine has produced another selection of exceptional stones including an exquisite small pink diamond, the first to be recovered from Karowe. Lucara’s second Exceptional Stone Tender, will close on September 2, 2013. The tender will feature 16 single diamond lots from the Karowe Mine in Botswana, including five diamonds larger than 100 carats, the company said. Viewings commence in Gaborone, Botswana on August 19 and will move to Antwerp, Belgium from August 26 until September 2, 2013, the company said. Lucara Diamond Corp. is seeking acquisitions in Africa, bolstered by a bonanza of large stones from its Karowe mine in Botswana, Bloomberg reported. In the past year, Lucara has discovered big, rough diamonds including a 239.25-carat (1.69 ounces) stone, which is about the size of a 9-volt battery. The added resources and heightened profile give Lucara the power to buy or join with a company that’s developing a diamond mine with annual sales of at least $100 million, said Chief Executive Officer William Lamb. Read more here: bloomberg/news/2013-07-22/lucara-diamond-bonanza-spurs-acquisitions-hunt-corporate-canada.html
Posted on: Mon, 29 Jul 2013 06:23:25 +0000
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