(IDEX Online) - Botswana is aiming to further expand its diamond production as Russia faces global sanctions, says the country's president Mokgweetsi Masisi.He hopes Botswana, currently the world's second-largest producer by volume, will "play a more prominent role in the industry," according to a report by Bloomberg News on an interview her gave in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.Botswana p...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers' recorded strong sales at its February sight as rough demand persisted and prices rose in select categories.Proceeds jumped 18% year on year to $650 million at its second sales cycle of 2022, compared with $550 million a year earlier, the miner reported Wednesday. Sales were slightly lower than the $660 million the company registered at the first cycle in January."The sec...Read More
RAPAPORT... The organizers of the September Hong Kong diamond and jewelry show have temporarily moved the event to Singapore to enable overseas visitors to attend.Jewellery & Gem World (JGW) will take place from September 27 to 30 at Singapore Expo, Informa Markets announced Wednesday. The change is a "one-off special arrangement applicable only in 2022," the company said.JGW, a major for...Read More
RAPAPORT... Current US sanctions on Russia's Alrosa will not reduce the supply of rough diamonds. India, where about 93% of the world's diamonds are manufactured, will enable money transfers without using dollars, euros or the SWIFT system. Americans will continue to legally buy polished diamonds from Indian or other cutters who have sourced the rough from Alrosa, as the diamonds themselves a...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Lucapa today announced a $9.1m investment that will allow it to speed up exploration projects in Angola and Australia, as diamond prices maintain their steep rise.The Australian miner also said it was exploring a strategic collaboration to sell goods from its newly-acquired Merlin mine directly to the luxury jeweler Margot McKinney.Stephen Wetherall, Lucapa's managing director...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Petra says like-for-like rough diamond prices rose by 46.5 per cent in the six months to December 2021 amid strong demand across all sizes and qualities.The UK-based miner today announced sales of $140.6m at Tender 4, an increase of almost 10 per cent on Tender 3. Last week it announced an interim figure for around 80 per cent of sales as it held Tender 4 in South Africa for t...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers has extended its partnership with WomEng, a social enterprise that aims to expand female participation in the engineering and technology industry."We have an ambitious commitment to achieve gender parity across our global workforce by 2030, and key to achieving this will be fostering greater diversity within the talent pipeline," Katie Fergusson, De Beers' senior vice pre...Read More
RAPAPORT... The head of Alrosa's American operations has resigned as president and board member at Diamonds Do Good (DDG) amid the continued war between Russia and Ukraine.Rebecca Foerster, who is president of Alrosa USA, has agreed to stand down from her DDG roles immediately, the nonprofit organization said Monday. Anna Martin, DDG's previous president, will succeed her.Alrosa was one of ma...Read More
RAPAPORT... After Russia invaded Ukraine, sentiment in the diamond industry very quickly shifted from confidence to uncertainty. In this episode of the Rapaport Diamond Podcast, Senior Analyst Avi Krawitz and News Editor Joshua Freedman outline the many questions that remain unanswered for the market and the challenges the crisis poses for the industry. The two also discuss the recent industr...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lucapa Diamond Company has signed a deal with a new investor that will see it develop a provenance program for its diamonds and take them into the retail jewelry market.The miner raised AUD 12.5 million ($9.1 million) in financing from Sydney- and Singapore-based investment fund Tribeca Investment Partners, Lucapa said Tuesday. The companies aim to bring goods from Lucapa's newly acqui...Read More
The following webinar took place on March 7, 2022. The impact of the Russian invasion and sanctions were analyzed. Sara Yood explained the legal implications of the US sanctions. Avi Krawitz discussed the impact of the sanctions on rough supply. Martin Rapaport provided a strategic overview of how the new economic warfare will impact inflation, interest rates and diamond prices.Please share your c...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Luxury brands including LVMH, Richemont, Chanel, Kering and Hermes are suspending their operations in Russia, in response to its invasion of Ukraine.LVMH, which owns Christian Dior, Tiffany & Co, Givenchy, Kenzo, TAG Heuer and Bulgari closed all 124 of its outlets on Sunday in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, but said it will keep on paying its 3,500 employees.Richemon...Read More
RAPAPORT... Prices soared at Petra Diamonds' recent rough tender in South Africa as strong market momentum continued.The miner brought in $140.6 million at its fourth sale of the fiscal year, compared with $128.4 million at the previous event, it reported Monday. Like-for-like prices rose 38% versus the previous tender, which ended December 15, and jumped 47% compared with the six months endi...Read More
RAPAPORT... The World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) has adopted a document calling for members to comply with standards of ethics.The decision took place at the WFDB president's meeting in Dubai last month, the umbrella organization for diamond exchanges said in a recent statement. The "Guidelines on Responsible Business Practices" deal with responsible sourcing throughout the supply c...Read More
RAPAPORT... Diamcor Mining has fast-tracked its mine-improvement program by several months to increase production and benefit from the current strong rough prices.The upgrades, which would allow the company to step up both output and processing at its Krone-Endora at Venetia deposit in South Africa, were originally scheduled to be completed by June 30, the company said last week. "Given the curren...Read More
RAPAPORT... Carla Liuni will step down as chief marketing officer of Pandora after two years with the company.Liuni will leave her position with the Danish jeweler to return to Italy, Pandora said last week. She was one of a number of senior marketing executives Pandora recruited in 2019 and 2020 to introduce major new product lines and launch its turnaround strategy."We understand Carla's wish to...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Two former employees have been cleared by a court in Namibia of stealing marine diamonds worth $420,000 from a Debmarine vessel. The main prosecution witness against Emmanuel Shikololo and Rodney Klim, both aged 48, did not give a credible account, said the judge at Windhoek High Court. Klim was alleged to have reported a blockage in the vessel's vacuum air trans...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa has suspended its membership Natural Diamond Council (NDC) and relinquished its position as as vice chair of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC), following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.It said it hoped the industry would stand strong during "this tough time" and that the situation would soon stabilize.The NDC, an alliance of the world's leading diamond producer...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Christian Dior yesterday unveiled an 88.88-carat cushion-cut yellow diamond - worth an estimated $50m - at the re-opening of its flagship store in Paris.The fancy intense VVS2 stone was recovered as a 150-carat rough gem at the Kimberley mine, South Africa, owned by Ekapa.Dior acquired it for an undisclosed sum and insisted on cutting it to exactly 88.88-carats, reflecting its beli...Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa clients have continued to buy rough from the miner by sending payment in currencies other than dollars following a range of sanctions on Russia by Western governments.While punitive measures by the US and other powers don't ban dollar transactions with Alrosa, the Russian company has asked customers to pay in euros and other currencies, industry insiders told Rapaport News....Read More