By
Bloomberg
Published
February 7, 2024
De Beers expects any recovery in the beleaguered diamond market to be slow and gradual as the industry continues to suffer from weak economic growth in key markets such as China and the United States.
The sector almost came to a complete standstill in the second half of last year when De Beers and Alrosa PJSC – the two largest miners – virtually halted supply in a desperate attempt to stem a fall in prices. While those efforts helped the market recover somewhat, it's unclear how much appetite commercial buyers currently have.
“We look at 2024 as a recovery year,” De Beers CEO Al Cook said in a Bloomberg TV interview in Cape Town. “We hope that the increase in demand for diamonds will be gradual and not sudden.”
The industry has been affected since the start of the pandemic. It was one of the big winners as shoppers stuck at home turned to diamond jewelry and other luxury purchases. But demand quickly faded as economies reopened, leaving many in the sector with excess stock for which they had paid too much.
The cooling intensified rapidly as the crucial US market reeled from rising inflation. Additionally, consumer confidence in China, a key growth market, was hit by a housing crisis, while competition from lab-grown diamonds increased.
