Russia Rises to 4th in Hong Kong’s Diamond Supplier Rankings

Russian diamond exports to Hong Kong hit their highest level of the year in May.

Imports reached a value of $47 million, which was 1.5 times more than in April. This surge pushed Russia to fourth place among the top diamond suppliers to the global financial hub, up from eighth position the previous month. India remains the leading supplier, Izvestia publication said.

In early April, analysts predicted a swift recovery of the diamond and gemstone market. The sector has been in crisis, with diamond jewelry prices falling globally since 2023. This price drop has hindered the sale of existing inventories, further depressing rough diamond prices.

Meanwhile, it emerged that De Beers has quietly begun selling rough diamonds to a select group of buyers at steep discounts. The aim is to reduce growing stockpiles without officially lowering listed prices.

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Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond as a form of carbon is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of electricity, and insoluble in water. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, but diamond is metastable and converts to it at a negligible rate under those conditions. Diamond has the highest hardness and thermal conductivity of any natural material, properties that are used in major industrial applications such as cutting and polishing tools. They are also the reason that diamond anvil cells can subject materials to pressures found deep in the Earth.