Articles and News

Hong Kong--Diamonds met with extreme price resistance at the recent Hong Kong Jewellery and Gem Fair. An article in the GIA Insider newsletter says the world diamond industry had been looking to the show as a make-or-break event, but with diamond prices rocketing up, it turned out to be neither. Demand was there but high prices put a lot of buyers off.

Diamond companies cited a number of factors contributing to the price resistance, including increasingly tight credit that caused a number of exhibitors to sell cut goods at a loss in order to raise cash. This in turn put pressure on other dealers, and concerns about continuing problems in Europe and the United States, their major export markets.

Hong Kong shipping firms noted that cargo bookings from Chinese exporters have been running 10% below last year as Western retailers trim their orders for the fall season, said the Insider.

Read the full GIA Insider report here.

Separately, Philip Newman, research director of precious metals for Thomson Reuters GFMS, recently predicted silver could hit $50 an ounce by year’s end. In an interview with Kitco News at the London Bullion Market Association conference held last week in Montreal, he said if gold hits the $2,000 mark it could push silver higher, to as much as $50. Silver plays a dual role as both investment and industrial metal, whereas gold is largely investment-driven and platinum is largely industrial. Read the entire article here.