News Archives

: Category: News Archives; Created: 20 May 2021; Hits: 482

May 20, 21 by John Jeffay

(IDEX Online) - India's overall exports of polished diamonds totaled $2.25bn in April, up slightly on $2.16bn in March, according to new figures from the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).

The industry appeared to hold firm despite the devastating surge in Covid infections and deaths throughout the month.

The seven-day average number of daily deaths was 350 at the start of April, increasing day on day to over 3,500 by the month end.

Overall gross exports of all gems and jewelry were $3.3bn in April, down marginally from $3.4bn in March.

Total imports were $2.2bn, also down slightly on $ 2.3bn the previous month.

Trade had slowed to a virtual halt last April because of the global pandemic. Exports were just $36m and imports $9m.

Generic pic of diamond polishing in Surat, India...

Read more from our friends at IDEX

: Category: News Archives; Created: 20 May 2021; Hits: 552

Three may be the magic number, but it is four that obsesses the market. Specifically, inflation rising above 4% last week proved a shock for inflation-sensitive assets, with bond yields jumping and stocks falling, growth stocks most of all.

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: Category: News Archives; Created: 19 May 2021; Hits: 486

Part 2 of Mike Maloney’s investigation into “Who Really Owns America’s Gold?” is here. Join Mike as he explains the process and sleight of hand involved in accounting for the gold of the United States, and brace yourself for the ending.

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: Category: News Archives; Created: 19 May 2021; Hits: 532

Boston’s comments are in direct response to former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who on Tuesday said the Fed seemed to be purposely ignoring the risk of overheating and that this stubbornness could ultimately damage the economy. Officials only had “to walk outside” to see a booming labor market, Summers said.

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: Category: News Archives; Created: 19 May 2021; Hits: 408

May 19, 21 by John Jeffay

(IDEX Online) - Alrosa reported a Q1 increase in net profits to $326m, up 13 per cent on Q4 2020.

That's despite an eight per cent drop in quarter-on-quarter revenue (to $1.23bn) and a nine per cent drop in sales volume to 15.5m carats (gem quality and industrial).

Its year-on-year performance hugely exceeded that of 2020, when the global pandemic brough the industry to a virtual halt. Net profits increased almost eightfold and sales volumes rose by 65 per cent.

Alrosa said the market was recovering more quickly than expected but supply was still down about a fifth on pre-Covid levels. Its production forecast for the year remains unchanged at 31.5m carats.

"Q1 saw a continued increase in demand for diamond jewelry from end consumers across all key markets, mainly in the US and China," said Alexey Philippovskiy, the Russian miner's chief financial officer.

"In particular, the US market demonstrated a double-digits growth even against the 2019 results.

"Our outlook for the end consumer market remains positive. The market is recovering faster than expected. Meanwhile, diamond supply is still 20 per cent below the pre-COVID levels and the production is unlikely to bounce back in the mid-term."

Pic shows Alrosa rough diamonds...

Diamond News Archives

India's Diamond Exports Hold Firm, Despite Covid Spike

Inflation’s Magic Number Is Four: WSJ

Who Really Owns America's Gold? PART 2...$50,000?!

Fed Officials Say They Aren’t Oblivious to the Risk of Surging Inflation: MW

Alrosa's Q1 Profits up as Demand Recovers