Supply shortages driving uptrend in prices. 1 ct. RAPI +0.8% in May. Inventory declining; number of 0.30 to 0.50 ct., RapSpec A3+ stones on RapNet -23% since April 1. Large US and Chinese retailers stimulating demand. Scarcities and rising prices making it hard for dealers to replenish polished.
RAPAPORT. The US has approved plans for fresh tariffs on a range of foreign goods, including jewelry, but has delayed the implementation to allow negotiations to continue, the government announced Tuesday.The new duties of up to 25% came in response to digital services taxes in Austria,.
RAPAPORT. India is experiencing a shortage of diamonds as rough supply has dropped and polished goods remain stuck at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).Traders are struggling to source rough, and face rising prices when buying from miners and at tenders, Indian manufacturers told.
India’s Domestic Trade Pleas for Financial Help
RAPAPORT. The trade group that supports India’s domestic jewelry industry has asked the government and the central bank for urgent help amid the “major financial stress” resulting from the Covid-19 crisis.
Companies in the sector have been forced to close and have lost out on revenue during the country’s latest coronavirus wave, the All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) stressed last week in a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
While exporters have been allowed to continue operations, jewelry manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers that supply the Indian market are considered nonessential and have had to shut, the council explained. Many of them used credit to obtain merchandise for the festive and wedding season, only to find that lockdowns wiped out sales, it added.
RAPAPORT. Sotheby’s will offer a fancy-vivid-yellow diamond ring at its New York sale next month, estimating the piece could fetch up to $3 million.The cut-cornered square step-cut, 73.11-carat, VS2-clarity jewel by Mayfair designer Glenn Spiro, called The Sienna Star, is one of the largest.