RAPAPORT. Grib Diamonds registered sales of $35 million at its final tender of the year as rough prices rose amid robust demand for larger goods.
Prices at the December 11 sale increased around 5% compared with the company’s previous tender on October 25, Grib head of sales Antony Dear told Rapaport News Wednesday. A total of 450,000 carats sold, with rough weighing 2 carats and higher most in demand, he added.
The Antwerp-based company sells production from AGD Diamonds’ Grib mine in Russia. It uses “multi-round ascending clock auctions,” an online bidding system in which the second-highest offer wins.
The sale follows De Beers’ price increase of 1% to 2% for 0.75-carat stones and larger at its December sight, with customers reporting strong rough trading, especially in sizes that produce 0.50-carat polished and above.
RAPAPORT. US retail sales struck a disappointing note in November due to an uptick in coronavirus cases and the lack of a second government stimulus package.
Revenues fell 1.1% month on month to $546.5 billion, though they were still 4.1% higher than in November 2019, the US Census Bureau reported Wednesday.
“Consumers held back on spending in November as virus rates spiked, states imposed retail restrictions, and congressional stimulus discussions were gridlocked,” commented Matthew Shay, CEO of the US’s National Retail Federation (NRF). “While consumers have been bolstered by increases in disposable income and savings, it’s clear that additional fiscal stimulus from Congress is needed and we are hopeful it will be passed soon as we enter the final stretch of the holiday season.”
RAPAPORT. The Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC) will present Jewelers’ Security Alliance (JSA) president John J. Kennedy with the 2021 Stanley Schechter Award.
The accolade, which was established in 2002, recognizes industry leaders who have raised the jewelry community’s reputation through their dedication, ethics and integrity. Kennedy is a former assistant commissioner and deputy general counsel for the New York City Department of Investigation, and has been running JSA since 1992. The JVC will present the award at its 2021 Annual Event, which it will hold virtually this year on January 8, it said Tuesday.
JVC will also announce several new initiatives to support the industry’s success into 2021, it noted.
RAPAPORT. This year could tie as the busiest on record for US retail imports, as consumer demand during the holiday shopping period led to a surge in shipments, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said.
Imports for the full year are expected to reach 21.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), up 1% over 2019, despite predictions as recently as last month that 2020 would see a 3% decrease, the NRF reported last week.
“With inventories low, but demand growing, we have witnessed a surge in imports as retailers try to keep up,” said Hackett Associates founder Ben Hackett in the NRF and Hackett Associates’ Global Port Tracker Report. “The dramatic shift to online shopping coupled with the expectation of next-day delivery is also spurring the growth of imports at warehouses, [which] need to have enough stock on hand not just to meet demand, but to meet it instantly.”
RAPAPORT. De Beers’ rough sales rose in December, albeit at a slower rate than in previous months, as steady retail demand ahead of the holidays supported trading at the rough and polished levels.
The final sales cycle of the year brought in $440 million, up 3% from the $426 million the miner recorded a year earlier, it reported Thursday. However, the figure was 5% lower than the November cycle’s $462 million.
“Positive consumer demand for diamond jewelry as we enter the holiday season is supporting the continuation of retail orders for polished diamonds from the diamond industry’s midstream sector,” said De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver. “This, in turn, supported steady demand for De Beers rough diamonds at our final sales cycle of 2020.”