The shock wave of the duties He is breaking the balance of the jewelry market, all benefiting from‘gold and other precious metals, who have reached new Historical recordsbut at the expense of precious stoneswho were literally targeteddue to the selective duties imposed by Trump, which overlapped the slowdown of theChinese economy and to the global economic crisis. Among these are the diamondsnatural resource as rare as it is indispensable for some economies, such as the South African one, world leader in extraction of raw diamonds, and the Indian one, determining in the processing and cleaning of raw stones. Then there are the interchange hubs of Dubai (before the processing/transformation) and Antwerp (distribution).
Gold on new historical records
Despite having portrayed by the new peaks, the gold price price is confirmed as sustained, a 3,224.60 dollars the ounce, While the future on the gold expiring in June stabilized at $ 3,240.85 the ounce. A dynamic that benefits from the nature of Well refuge of the metal, which has decisively broken through the roof of $ 3,000 this year, thanks to the volatility and panic sylling that has invested the global financial markets, in the wake of the universal duties announced by President Trump and to the recession fears.
Together with gold The other precious metals also runi, like the Platinum and Palladio which exchange $ 964, both on the rise of about 6%since the beginning of the year. A brilliant performance, but little compared to gold that marks a +22%. Same goes for silver which reached 32 dollars, with a gain since the beginning of 12%.
The paralysis of the diamond market
If gold appears rather BE bought, the case of precious gems is different, in particular the market of diamondsa rather complex supply chain that passes through the processing and cleaning cycle, before landing in the main international squares, such as the financial hub of Antwerp, where diamonds are evaluated and distributed.
On the diamond markets, in factweighs the shadow of the duties imposed by Trumpboth the minimal ones of 10% already taken since the beginning of April, and the highest ones and different country per country, threatened on the occasion of Liberation Day And then suspended for 90 days, waiting to carry on the negotiations with the commercial partners. Duties that do not spare the mining sector, including diamond extraction.
South Africa and India under shooting
Among the economies most involved in the diamond business there are the South Africawhich is the greatest World exporter of raw stone And India, which instead transforms e deals with cleaning of 9 out of 10 diamonds marketed globally.
In South AfricaPetra Diamonds, the main raw stone extractor, has blocked the last auctionin an attempt to support the price of diamonds. Against India, however, Trump imposed duties of 27%who literally paralyzed the market. The USA in fact absorb about the 30% of the export of Diamonds of Indiafor a value of 10 billion dollars on the approximately 32 billion of market value. Therefore, heavy repercussions are estimated on the Indian economy, if the duties are confirmed, also in terms of jobs, especially in the rich region of the Surat, where the Modi president also wanted to inaugurate a diamond stock exchange.
Things are not better to Dubaiwhere rough stones pass towards the Indian transformation industries, nor ad Antiwhere diamonds are shipped in every part of the world. A market that has a value of 82 billion dollars, which today is almost paralyzed (it is estimated that deliveries have collapsed by 85% after the imposition of the duties).
De Beers in crisis
The collapse of the diamond market and other precious gems has also sent a crisis in crisis World giant like De Beersso much so that its parent company, the mining company Anglo Americanhas decided to get away of this business and focus on the safer business of copper and industrial metals. De Beers, still in crisis Due to the collapse of the price of diamonds and a weak question, even before the duties announced by Trump, it will be listed through IPO, after the failure of the sale negotiations to BHP Billiton last year.
