Global mining giant De Beers is selling polished diamonds on its online auction platform.
De Beers said this would offer midstream diamond companies an opportunity to sell certain types of polished diamonds to other trade participants.
According to trade sources, the service is available on membership, like any other business-to-business platform, to De Beers’ customers. “We look forward to seeing how the trade responds to the extension of the third-party selling service. Once we have some initial feedback we can decide whether there is sufficient demand to continue with it,” said Neil Ventura, executive vice-president, De Beers Auction Sale.
The business-to-business pilot is an extension of the service for rough diamonds that De Beers’ launched earlier this year. As with rough diamond auctions, any seller wishing to use the service will need to comply with a range of requirements, including sellers’ integrity, history of manufacturing and product disclosures.
Experts said De Beers was trying to widen revenue streams to beat slowing diamond sales, which were languishing because of the global economic slowdown. “The entry into polished diamond retailing is an attempt to increase the volume of business of the De Beers group,” said Dinesh Navadia, president, Surat Diamond Association. A few months ago De Beers launched diamond certification. It also set up a diamond grading and assaying unit in Surat last year at an investment of $10 million.
De Beers has reported a 19 per cent decline in rough diamond output at 8.4 million carats in April-June from the corresponding quarter a year ago. The average price per carat in the first half of 2016 was $190, 16.2 per cent lower than the year-ago period. The company’s full-year sales guidance remains unchanged at 26-28 million carats.
World diamond demand has grown at 2.5 per cent a year since 2014. Demand is growing in the US, but growth has slowed in China and declined in India. Diamond producers also face increasing cost pressures as the stones come from ever deeper mines.