Al Cook, CEO of De Beers, the world's largest diamond company, appeared on Bloomberg TV Wednesday morning to discuss the future of diamond prices. He anticipates that demand will follow a "U" shape pattern.
Bloomberg's Jennifer Zabasajja asked Cook: "Where do you see demand coming from?"
Cook responded: "So 2023 was a very challenging year for the diamond industry. And lower demand was driven by three things: falls in the global economic growth rate, long-Covid (lack of interaction between the world's largest economies), and encroachment of lab-grown diamonds."
He said all three factors that suppressed the diamond market "will reverse in 2024."
"We see 2024 as a year of recovery," Cook added.
Over the last year, we have outlined to readers that diamond prices are imploding as luxury demand floundered and lab-grown diamonds flooded markets worldwide (here & here & here).
According to Bloomberg data, the Diamond Standard Index Price recently hit lows not seen since 2004.
How long until De Beers or other miners are hit with convenient labor actions at mines that curb global supplies?
