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Is there any merit to criticism that the Indian diamond industry is using bank financing for “narrow and destructive interest of speculating on [sic] rough prices,” as the new president of IDMA (the International Diamond Manufacturers Association) recently claimed?
You may have gathered over time, if you are foolish enough to read a few of my burbles, that I am not one to resist too strongly the odd glass of wine passing my lips.
Every diamond is a unique creation of nature, its price determined by a subjective examination of its physical characteristics.
The Zimbabwe Independent reported that De Beers Consolidated Mines, the diamond group’s South African unit is one of the seven potential suitors eyeing the takeover of part of Rio Tinto’s 78 percent stake in Murowa diamond mine in Zimbabwe.
Diamond mining year in review In 2012, ALROSA Group preserved the world leadership in diamond mining in terms of volume achieved in the period of economic crisis.
The decision by the Chinese authorities to clamp down on advertising luxury products is a red flag for the diamond industry. While China represents the primary growth opportunity for the trade, the government’s restrictions are presenting hurdles even if its intentions may be pure.
The diamond theft at Brussels’ Zaventem Airport is more a cautionary tale than a story of financial harm.
There is a close connect between advertising and spending, says Aasha Gulrajani Swarup writing for the Diamond World at www.diamondworld.net. Neither a global economic slowdown nor a recession could restrict worldwide spending on personal luxury goods, estimated to touch US $275 billion in 2012, and growing in double digits.
Belgium irked the hell out of Global Witness, a world monitoring group on conflict diamonds, when it said last week that the European Union (EU) should lift sanctions imposed on the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), which mines diamonds in Marange.
Among the many significant developments that evolved in the diamond industry in 2012 was a growing awareness about price differences between tinted and non-tinted polished stones. Diamond dealers have come to recognize stones with a greenish-brownish tint as having originated from Zimbabwe’s Marange mines.
De Beers’ profits for 2012 fell 49 percent year-on-year to just $506 million. The sharp drop in profit comes on as sales fell 16 percent to $6.1 billion. Rough diamond sales decreased 15 percent to $5.5 billion.
The debate about investing in diamonds in the popular and economic press mostly considers investment in 1-carat white goods, the kind considered the “bread and butter” of diamonds.