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Gemdax

De Beers Will Let Buyers Reject More Diamonds to Fend Off Crisis

By | Uncategorized
  • Buyers can sell back more diamonds to De Beers, people say
  • De Beers is making concessions as diamond industry struggles

De Beers will let buyers reject more diamonds at a sale next week as the mining company shows almost unprecedented flexibility to ease a growing crisis.

The Anglo American Plc unit has told customers they can refuse to buy half of the stones offered that are smaller than three-quarters of a carat, according to people familiar with the situation, who asked not to be identified as the matter is private. Buyers will also get the option to sell back some diamonds to De Beers on favorable terms, the people said.

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Anglo’s Diamond Riches Could Be Key If Agarwal Stake Grows

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Much of the focus around Indian mining tycoon Anil Agarwal’s pursuit of Anglo American Plc has been the company’s South African operations. But Botswana could be similarly important.

Botswana is the source of about two-thirds of Anglo’s diamonds and the country is a major stakeholder in De Beers, the world’s biggest gem producer. There are few countries as dependent on a single commodity as Botswana is with diamonds and the nation is highly protective of the industry.

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Dominion Diamond to be taken over by Washington Cos. in US$1.2B agreement

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CALGARY — The Washington Companies has won over the board of Dominion Diamond Corp., one of the world’s largest diamond producers, with a sweetened US$1.2-billion bid.

The privately held Montana firm is offering US$14.25 in cash per share for all stock in Dominion Diamond (TSX:DDC), up from its US$13.50 per share offer that Dominion rejected in March.

“We’re going to be in Canada for a very long time and this was a nice addition to our portfolio,” Lawrence Simkins, president of Washington Cos., said in a phone interview.

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Americans Buying Fewer Gems Puts the Hurt on Diamond Hub Antwerp

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An ugly year for diamonds in the vital U.S. market is piling pressure on Europe’s historic center of the $80 billion global trade.

Diamond trading companies in the Belgian port city of Antwerp, which has been the industry’s trading capital for five centuries, were already feeling the pinch from a tightening credit bubble and thin margins. That’s now being compounded by falling demand from some of the industry’s biggest customers, notably retailers Signet Jewelers Ltd. and Tiffany & Co.

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Diamond Industry Faces Headache as Key U.S. Market Takes a Knock

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In the diamond industry, the only place that really matters is the U.S., and the market is starting to look a little shaky.

In a country where consumers buy almost half the world’s gems, Tiffany & Co. and Signet Jewelers Ltd. this week reported disappointing sales. That’s a blow to expectations that President Donald Trump’s pro-business policies would give consumers more money to spend on luxury items such as diamonds.

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