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How is Coronavirus impacting the jewellery and diamond trade?
- Thread starter diamondhoarder
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I expect we are going to see price rises and shortages developing.
Retail sales are down may 30% since Covid but rough and factory production have almost stalled - maybe down 80%
Thank you @Garry H (Cut Nut) . I was also reading that the miners are holding a lot of inventory that they are not releasing during the crisis to maintain prices. I can look for the article. Here is one. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.th...ces-a-rocky-patch-due-to-oversupply-1.1033519
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A build up of rough does not translate to lower prices immediately if there is a supply constraint at the manufacturing level.
90% of cutting is in india and corona virus has gone nuts there. The govt seems to be Trumping it - "if we do not test for it, there will be less cases".
Factories are shut or running at 10% or 30% - so while demand from retail is down 20-40% - well do the numbers!
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I feel you are a bit optimistic with your expectations..., sure some items are already going up in price because of shortages mainly and generally because of current de-globalization, but in general I believe non of us have ever witnessed such a surreal period where practically the whole capitalistic world is at a standstill for almost a half a year.
I guess only time will tell, but if this paragraph has any weight, then we might surprise ourselves sooner or later...
"While the biggest diamond miners are refusing to budge on prices, distressed smaller rivals are offering discounts of as much as 25%, meaning buyers who have limited demand are able to get the goods they need from them instead."
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The thing is maybe half of those smaller companies will go under - they are often highly leveraged.
They will remain dormant until well after a vaccine is developed in billions of doeses.
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In my view the pricing of $10K+ diamonds and high end jewelry will depend upon the stock market and real estate prices. Wealthy buyers still feel wealthy because both those markets have remained close to their highs, and are doing so despite 40 million jobs lost.
Logic would tell us those bubbles should burst soon, but I wouldn't hold my breath. If we could predict the stock market we wouldn't have to worry about diamond prices!
Logic would tell us those bubbles should burst soon, but I wouldn't hold my breath. If we could predict the stock market we wouldn't have to worry about diamond prices!
Volute
Rough_Rock
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In my view the pricing of $10K+ diamonds and high end jewelry will depend upon the stock market and real estate prices. Wealthy buyers still feel wealthy because both those markets have remained close to their highs, and are doing so despite 40 million jobs lost.
Logic would tell us those bubbles should burst soon, but I wouldn't hold my breath. If we could predict the stock market we wouldn't have to worry about diamond prices!
Personally, the irrationality of the market concerns me more than any downturn. I wish I could feel the way you do, but I think nothing is predictable at the moment, or in the near future. Although I'm still looking on PS, my attention is on family, the markets, the local economy, and when there is time, hobbies. Economic volatility is time consuming to deal with, sidelining nonessential projects. Just one consumer's opinion.
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Lab-Grown And Natural Diamond Industries End Hostilities, As Declining Jewelry Demand Threatens All
With a name change from Diamond Producers Association to Natural Diamond Council and new positioning of mined diamonds as the natural alternative, the lab-grown and mined diamond industries are learning to live peaceably together. Its a change that will benefit jewelry retailers and consumers.
www.forbes.com
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