Rough Diamond Prices Saw Decline in June

Rapaport reported that diamond prices continued to fall in June. Demand from the Far East “remains cautious,” and US demand is also weaker than it usually is after the JCK Las Vegas show.
As quoted in the market news:

The RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI™) for 1-carat laboratory-graded diamonds fell 0.9 percent during June. RAPI for 0.30-carat diamonds declined 2.5 percent and RAPI for 0.50-carat diamonds dropped 2.6 percent. RAPI for 3-carat diamonds decreased 1.7 percent.
RAPI for 1-carat diamonds fell 1.6 percent during the second quarter of 2015 and on July 1, 2015 was down 15.3 percent from a year earlier.

The market news also states:

Rough producers prefer to reduce supply rather than prices in the current weak market. Rough prices remained relatively stable in the second quarter after slipping an average 5 percent to 7 percent in the first three months of the year. De Beers rough sales fell by approximately 28 percent year on year to $2.5 billion in the first half of 2015, according to Rapaport estimates.
Manufacturers are expected to further reduce their rough purchases in the coming months in an effort to shrink existing inventory and raise liquidity levels.

Click here to read the full Rapaport report.