August is generally a period of slow activity in the diamond industry. Traders, manufacturers and wholesalers in Belgium, Israel and the US were away on their summer holidays as were many industry members that are based in India. The exception to this is US retailers, as those operating in popular tourist destinations saw a rise in in-store consumer traffic, which then spurred limited trading activity, mostly among American and Indian suppliers.
The summer months are here and with them polished diamond activity has slowed down. Demand from the retail and jewelry manufacturing sectors is down, and wholesale trading has decreased, leading in turn to a decline in wholesale polished diamondprices. The Mercury Diamond Global Tracker™ (MDGT™) averaged 113.81 in July 2018, which is a 0.3% decline compared to June.
The June Mercury Diamond polished price report has shown that prices of most round diamond size categories declined compared to May. The two size ranges that did rise were 0.50- and 0.70-carats. All other size ranges declined.
As diamond centers across the globe enter the summer slowdown, the market was characterized by limited activity and steady-to-declining demand. De Beers and ALROSA released their half year figures showing rising rough diamond prices and changes in production.
That prices of materials fluctuate is no surprise to anyone or news, for that matter. Every material, especially a commodity, is affected by market forces of many types and sources, which jointly impact prices. Diamonds are no exception; they are affected by the same and similar forces.