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Rapaport sold over 135,000cts of polished diamonds for $28.9m (£19.7m) in Q1, as its Melee Diamond index for small diamonds decreased by 4% to 124.50.
This is according to Rapaport’s Melee Index (RMI), which was down 9.5% year-on-year from 137.60 in March 2014
Rapaport said polished diamond prices continued to decline throughout the first quarter of 2015 as retailers were largely “absent” from the market and diamond trading remained slow in March.
It said jewellery retailers refrained from their usual first-quarter buying and avoided unnecessary buildup of inventory.
Meanwhile, diamond manufacturers significantly reduced their polished production in an effort to diminish their existing polished stocks, as overall demand was weak and profit margins remained slim.
Ezi Rapaport, director of global trading at Rapaport Group, said: “The diamond industry is continuing to face challenging times and serious liquidity constraints as dealers struggle to operate profitably in an extended weak market. Demand remained slow in Q1 with the recent Hong Kong and Basel shows failing to stimulate trading activity.
“Manufacturers are deferring rough purchases and are cutting down on new production with hopes that limited new supply will help stabilise declining prices and reduce current inventory.
The group said that while the second quarter is traditionally a slow period, dealers are hoping that the market will stabilise as supply is reduced and shortages stimulate market demand in the coming months.
