In the first half of this year, the price of cultivated diamonds fell by as much as 60%. As a result, many listed companies suffered a "double kill" in performance and stock prices. However, since the third quarter, the decline in the price of cultivated diamonds has narrowed. A reporter from Cailian News Agency learned from an industry interview that due to the low price of cultivated diamonds, domestic super-hard material manufacturers regulate the production capacity of industrial diamonds and cultivated diamonds, and the application of artificial diamonds in the semiconductor field may become a new volume in the industry.
Cultivating diamonds is sluggish all year round
According to the latest data from GJEPC in India, the total import of natural diamond blanks from January to November was $12.921 billion, down 23.99% from the same period last year, and bare diamond exports were $16.414 billion, down 24.63% from the same period last year; cultivated diamond blank imports were $974 million, compared with 202 It fell 28.56% in the same period of two years, and the total export of bare diamonds was $1.285 billion, down 20.64% from the same period in 2022.
The global diamond industry chain is long. India's midstream grinding link connects the upstream Chinese manufacturers' production and the downstream United States and other consumer markets. Its data can reflect the changes in the supply and demand of the diamond market. In the first November of this year, the import of natural diamonds and cultivated diamond blanks and exports of bare diamonds fell by more than 20% compared with the same period last year, which can reflect At present, the terminal diamond consumption market is sluggish compared with the same period last year. The penetration rate of cultivated diamonds is increasing, and the supply of diamond blanks exceeds the demand.
Industry analysis believes that last year, upstream rough manufacturers expanded production and increased production capacity, and a large number of customers hoarded goods, resulting in an increase in midstream inventory. In order to adjust the inventory pressure, India's cutting mill was shut down in the off-season and the Dilight Festival holiday was long. At the same time, the number of imported roughs decreased significantly year-on-year.
A diamond-cultivated trader told the reporter of Cailian News Agency: "From the end of 2022, the supply of breeding diamonds has a trend of exceeding the demand. This year, Indian customers are unstable in receiving goods, and we have found that slightly larger-scale polishing factories have inventory in their hands. Some large Indian households can even hold up for about a year. Now India CVD technology has also developed rapidly. At the beginning of this year, we have no longer made advance payment for the goods from the large rough factory.
Under the reversal of supply and demand, the price of cultivated diamonds fell rapidly. The reporter of Cailian News Agency previously learned from front-line research that the price of cultivated diamond blanks fell by more than 60% in the first half of this year. Affected by this, the performance of the relevant listed companies encountered performance and the stock price "Davis double kill".
The Yellow River whirlwind in the head enterprise (600172. SH), Zhongbing Red Arrow (000519. SZ), Power Diamond (301071. SZ) Operating income and net profit both decreased in the first three quarters. Operating income fell by 20.07% in the first three quarters of the Yellow River whirlwind, and net profit turned from profit to loss. The company's market capitalisation in the secondary market has shrunk significantly, and Power Diamond has fallen by as much as 52% from the highest point this year.
After the third quarter, the price of cultivated diamonds temporarily stabilised, and the decline slowed down. Rough manufacturers tried to raise prices. The relevant person in charge of a listed company once told the reporter of Cailian News Agency that the market's acceptance of price increases in August and September was acceptable, but in October, affected by the price of natural diamonds, the price of cultivated diamonds was suppressed, and the overall (third quarter) price rose slightly compared with the first half of the year.
Recently, people related to Power Diamond told the reporter of Cailian News Agency: "The price of cultivated diamonds has been relatively stable recently, and the fluctuation is not great."
Industrial diamond application broadening
Almost all domestic leading diamond manufacturers started with industrial diamonds. When the market was booming in diamond cultivation, they had invested more production capacity in consumption. When the price of diamond cultivation fell, more and more manufacturers once again focussed on industrial diamonds.
The reporter of Cailian News Agency learned from a number of high-temperature and high-pressure manufacturers that the production capacity arrangement of industrial diamonds and cultivated diamonds has been adjusted according to the market situation, and the proportion of industrial diamonds is higher.
Compared with the consumption of diamonds, industrial diamonds include diamond monocrystalline and diamond powder, and are more widely used in downstream fields. Traditional applications are mainly used in mechanical, photovoltaic electronic industry abrasives and other fields. According to the brokerage research report, it is estimated that the demand for industrial diamond will be about 10.1 billion yuan by 2025. The compound annual growth rate is about 13.9%.
In particular, in November, the patent of "a hybrid bonding method based on silicon and diamond-based three-dimensional integrated chips" applied by Huawei Technology Co., Ltd. and Harbin University of Technology once again detonated the market, and the super-hard material sector rose for many days.
It is understood that the synthesis of diamond by CVD method has the advantages of large size, low impurity concentration and high crystalisation quality. It has more obvious advantages in the preparation and doping research of large-size and high-purity diamond. It is expected to become the fourth-generation semiconductor material. Diamond is highly expected in semiconductor applications.
The application of industrial diamond in the semiconductor industry chain has become a must-have place for the above-mentioned enterprises. Yellow River Cyclone, Zhongbing Red Arrow, Power Diamond, Sifangda (300179. SZ), National Machinery Seiko (002046. SZ) and other listed companies have layouts.
The senior executive of Zhongbing Red Arrow told the reporter of Cailian News Agency: "Diamond has been widely used in the precision processing of semiconductors. Because diamond materials have extremely high thermal conductivity, they also have great potential in the third-generation semiconductor heat dissipation applications. Now the company has diamond suitable for experimental research in the field of semiconductors and optics. Stone single-chip products have not yet been mass-produced.
Sifangda recently said on the interactive platform that the company has been paying attention to the application progress of diamond in semiconductors and other fields, and takes the CVD functional diamond business as an important strategic direction of the company to accelerate the technological progress and industrialisation of CVD diamond. The functional diamond industrialisation project with an annual output of 700,000 carats has started and entered the construction period, and the commissioning and production began in the first half of 2024.