In the Interim Financial Results for 2024, in the First half of 2024, DeBeers said, following a challenging 2023, demand for rough diamonds recovered slightly at the start of 2024 following the cessation of the voluntary moratorium on rough diamond imports into India in late 2023 and improved demand for diamond jewellery over the year-end retail selling season in the United States.
However, with midstream polished inventories remaining higher than normal and continued cautious restocking from retailers, demand for rough diamonds deteriorated in the second quarter of the year. Global consumer demand for natural diamond jewellery in the first half of 2024 experienced very different trends within the key consumer countries.
In China, the ongoing economic challenges, particularly within the property market and low consumer confidence, have delayed the expected recovery from the sharp decline in 2023, with jewellery retailers largely selling from existing stocks rather than placing new orders.
Consumer demand in the United States continued to be affected by economic uncertainty, soft consumer confidence and lab-grown diamonds. Conversely, in India, strong economic growth underpinned positive natural diamond jewellery demand growth.
The bifurcation of natural diamond (ND) and lab-grown diamonds accelerated. Wholesale lab-grown diamond prices continue to fall with retailers, including Lightbox Jewelry, having to repeatedly reduce their prices to remain competitive, affecting their top-line performance and shifting retailer financial incentives increasingly towards natural diamond jewellery.
