Melee diamond rough prices up sharply and demand for small pellets is booming

  As reported by Rapaport yesterday, De Beers has increased the average price of rough natural diamonds by around 10% this week, particularly for the 0.03 carat range.

Since the second half of 2022, the demand for smaller diamonds from luxury brands has gradually increased, and the need for smaller stones to fill the capacity of Indian cutting plants has led to an oversupply of rough up to 0.75 carats.

Another important reason is that the recovery of the Chinese market has pulled up demand for small-grain diamond prices. This is summarised in our weekly dynamic review published for the 0.30 carat loose diamond price (From: Rapaport). In the 11 weeks from the beginning of December 2022 to the end of last week, the segment saw only one week of price reductions, with the rest showing varying degrees of price increases.

Furthermore, according to Rapaport, stocks in the 0.30 carat band on the RapNet platform were down by around 35% year-on-year as at 1 February 2023.

It can be inferred from this that the corresponding demand for rough continues to be supported by the demand for small grain loose diamonds.

By observing the above phenomena, we have reason to believe that small-grain natural diamonds (rough and loose) are in a clear state of undersupply and price support. This situation is likely to continue, provided that there are no significant changes in the relevant factors.