WELCOME TO OUR BLOG – ENJOY, LEARN, JOIN IN

Brides in China are increasing prices of diamond engagement rings.

The price of diamond engagement rings is being pushed up due to demand from brides in China, according to one company.

Gem Diamonds, which operates in Australia, claimed the cost per carat increased by 44 per cent to $2,422 (£1,513) in the last month, compared with overall costs in the third quarter.

Newspaper the Australian reported yellow diamonds produced by the company will also see a 25 per cent rise in cost as their popularity grows.

Clifford Elphick, chief executive of Gem, said: "Diamond prices have continued to strengthen, driven by continued demand mainly from the East."

Diamond producers have also began to recover from the recession, which saw demand for the gemstones drop in the last few years, the newspaper said.

Sales of diamonds in European countries and the US are likely to be strong this Christmas, Paresh Sanghvi, chief executive of Diambel NV, recently suggested to Daily News and Analysis.
 

The head of one diamond supplier has predicted prices will rise next year if a double-dip recession does not take place.

The price of rough diamonds is likely to increase if fears regarding a double-dip recession are abated, one leading industry figure has claimed.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Johan Dippenaar, chief executive officer of supplier Petra Diamonds said there is the potential for the market to have a "very firm" end to 2010.

"If the nervousness of a double-dip recession dissipates, then we expect to see some increase in prices at the beginning of next year," he remarked.

The company today (September 20th) posted its preliminary financial results for the year to June 30th, recording a record profit after tax of $70.2 million (£44.9 million).

It revealed group revenue for the 12-month period climbed from $69.3 million to $163.7 million, while gross production of diamonds was up six per cent to 1.16 million carats.

Mr Dippenaar praised the firm's performance over the year, adding the outlook for the diamond market is positive.

Higher demand for diamonds and an expected initial public offering are likely to boost shares in Russia's biggest diamond miner Alrosa, according to one analyst.

Andrey Lobazov of Metropol was quoted by Bloomberg as saying in a report there will be "an upturn in global diamond demand", with China, India and the Middle East leading the way.

He also warned a diamond deficit could occur "as soon as 2012", noting this would "drive raw diamond prices higher".

Mr Lobazov noted this, along with a forecast IPO in 2012, will help raise the value of Alrosa, which is responsible for nearly all of Russia's diamond output and hold 25 per cent of the global market in terms of value.

Earlier this week, the company said it expects total sales for 2010 to be higher than previously forecast at approximately $3.34 billon (£2.16 billion).

For the first nine months of the year, preliminary figures from the firm show it sold diamonds worth over $2.78 billion.

‘If you bought a good quality diamond five years ago, you’re looking at a much bigger win than anything in the stock market,’ points out Robert Gannicott Chief Executive Officer of Harry Winston Diamond Corp. A point that is confirmed by the historical records of leading online diamond jeweller DiamondGeezer.com

Global supplies of rough diamonds are unlikely to meet expected demand as purchases rise with wealth in Russia, the Middle East and elsewhere in Asia.

‘There’s a lot more upside in diamond prices than the public market appreciates,’ Gannicott said yesterday in an interview in New York. ‘I don’t think the supply-demand gap is understood very well.’

Increased Exploration.
Rio Tinto Group of London, also are increasing spending on diamond exploration by 20 percent.

‘Rough diamond supply is likely to fall short of expected demand within the next three to five years,’ London-based RBC Capital Markets analyst Des Kilalea said in an August 27 note to clients. ‘Production growth will be limited as older mines become deeper and production is scaled back, while new production is not expected to fill the gap.’

Cultural Reasons
The industry expects sales to rise in China, India, the Middle East and Russia, partly for cultural reasons that are not well understood in Western countries. As sales in the U.S. have slowed, women in Russia and the Middle East have been increasing purchases of diamonds possibly as security against the possibility of divorce.

‘The ladies that become owners of these things don’t have the benefit of divorce laws that we’re used to,’ said Gannicott. ‘The ownership of a very expensive piece of jewellery that is clearly theirs and is clearly portable means a lot more than it would in our society.’