Small Polished Goods Firm as Rough Remains Soft

De Beers' realized rough price sat near $110/ct in Q2, down about 37% year over year. Producer pricing is still absorbing much of the pipeline's weakness, keeping midstream input costs soft.

Rapaport's RAPI edged up this month, but the move is concentrated at the low end: 0.50 ct goods rose 3.97% versus just 0.45% for 1 ct goods. Demand is rotating into smaller commercial goods, while larger stones remain broadly flat.

The dollar firmed across the board this past week (USD/INR +1.19% to ₹95.96, USD/ILS +0.98% to ₪3.04, USD/EUR +0.65%), lifting the local-currency cost of dollar-priced rough for India and Israel. Gold eased 2.38% on the month to $4,367/oz but remains historically high. Metals Focus flags record bullion as a drag on jewelry demand, pushing manufacturers toward higher stone content.

India's August gem and jewellery exports edged higher overall even as polished diamonds softened, with polished exports at $925M, down 4.93% year over year. The data points to a mix shift away from natural polished and toward studded-gold and lab-grown lines at the world's largest cutting hub.

Jewellery & Gem WORLD Hong Kong is underway (AsiaWorld-Expo, Sep 14–18; HKCEC, Sep 16–20), offering the season's first major read on Asian holiday-quarter demand.