‘Dealers expressed optimism for the US diamond market after polished imports rose last year to their highest level since 2014.
Shipments to the country jumped 8% to $23.3 billion in 2018, according to the US Census Bureau, despite more modest growth in consumer sales. That indicates the industry may be sending large quantities of goods to the US in anticipation of future demand, traders noted.
“The US is still the [most important] marketplace for luxury items, and namely diamonds,” said Bruno Scarselli, a partner at Scarselli Diamonds, a New York-based supplier of high-end colored diamonds. “There are less restrictions doing business in the US than there are elsewhere in the world.”
Markets such as Hong Kong and India can present difficulties when it comes to bureaucracy and speed of payment, so traders prefer to sell to the US, where they can receive cash faster, he added.’
Source – www.diamonds.net Rapaport
