Diamond Sales Are Back After Miners Froze the Market to Boost Prices

• Diamond sales by top producers are picking up after the industry took big steps to save a collapsing market.
• Alrosa and De Beers both sold around $100 million worth of diamonds at the end of November, sources told Bloomberg.
• But the market isn’t entirely back on its feet as demand comes from a handful of buyers.

The diamond market is beginning to glitter again as sales gradually pick up after a post-pandemic slump.

Two of the top gem producers, Alrosa and De Beers, both sold around $100 million worth of diamonds at the end of November, sources told Bloomberg on Monday

Sales have regained a bit of traction after some of the industry’s biggest players took radical steps to prop up diamond prices, which have plunged about 30% since March 2022.

Russian giant Alrosa halted sales entirely in September. India banned all imports of the gemstone in October. And De Beers, one of the world’s largest producers and distributors of diamonds, allowed customers to back out of contracted purchases in November.

The market hasn’t completely regained its shine though.

The sources told Bloomberg that Alrosa’s recent sales were directed to a handful of mostly Indian buyers, as many other customers shy away from doing business with Russia after its invasion of Ukraine last year. Sources also said that De Beers is continuing to let consumers refuse diamonds they’re contracted to buy.

The diamond market has seen big swings in recent years. During the pandemic, tons of shoppers shifted to buying luxury goods, including online jewelry purchases.

But demand cooled off by 2021, leaving suppliers with a boatload of inventory that started sinking prices the following year. Meanwhile, the rise of lab-grown stones have also been a pain point for the industry, as demand for synthetic stones has been cutting into the market for rough diamonds.

At the same time, the industry’s most important market, the US, was slammed with high inflation. And demand from China also winnowed after a major property crisis buffeted the economy.

But as sales have started to thaw in recent weeks, they’re still nowhere near the numbers for a typical holiday season, and some of the deals are reportedly being driven by buyers who just need enough diamonds to keep their factories open, instead of robust demand for the gems.

De Beers and Alrosa didn’t immediately respond to Business Insider’s requests for comment. They declined to comment to Bloomberg.