Diamond market shows signs of revival

After being virtually shut down since March, the diamond market has slowly come back to life. This fall, De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer by value, has reported a growing momentum in sales. Several small producers also reported their first regular diamond tenders in Antwerp in September, and mines such as Renard in Quebec and Mothae in Lesotho that have been on care and maintenance since March have restarted. Anecdotal evidence suggests that diamond prices have rebounded from lows earlier in the year, says Edward Sterk, director of mining research at BMO Capital Markets. “In terms of pricing, and bear in mind, this is all anecdotal because we don’t have any real data from the companies with regards to the September quarter, I’m hearing that prices are about 5% below where they were in February. So they’re back to pre-Covid levels or close to.” By some estimates, prices at the peak of the pandemic were down by 20-30%, but in a very low volume market.