New York/Toronto — Here is yet another commodity that stands to benefit from Donald Trump’s policies: diamonds. "It’s likely to be positive, certainly in the short term — lower taxes, more jobs, translates into more disposable income and translates into more diamond purchases," De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver said in an interview Tuesday in Bloomberg offices in New York. If the president-elect’s policies did lead to increased demand for luxury items in the US, it would give a further boost to a modest recovery forecast for diamonds, said Cleaver. De Beers, a unit of Anglo American, expects sales to be flat or slightly lower this year, partly because of US dollar strength, before increasing "a little bit" next year. De Beers reported a decline in prices of about 7% in the first half and Cleaver said polished diamond prices were "reasonably stable" in the second half. The price outlook for next year probably was not "wildly out of kilter" with its sales forecast, Cleaver said. Longer term,...
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