De Beers: No time to waste to invest in diamond pipeline

by eyetee | April 21, 2015 2:46 pm

[1]De Beers’ executive vice-president of global sightholder sales says the diamond industry must make targeted investments to capitalize on opportunities for growth in the medium and long term.

Speaking at the Dubai Diamond Conference, Paul Rowley warned, however, that a limited window exists to maximize benefits.

“The industry will soon be faced with a period of heightened opportunity, the like of which we have not seen in more than a generation,” he said. “In order to capitalize fully on the opportunities, we need to focus now on the appropriate investments. There is no time to waste.”

Rowley used Dubai as an example of how targeted investment has seen the emirate grow from a minor player in the global diamond business to one of the key trading centres. He also highlighted De Beers’ own investment throughout the diamond pipeline.

“Starting with the consumer—as consumer demand is the only true source of value in the diamond trade—we invest in diamond equity,” he said. “In the midstream, we invest in rough diamond sales, distribution excellence, and improved efficiency, while upstream we continue to invest in production capacity expansion (with Cut 8, Venetia Underground, and Gahcho Kué), as well as exploration, so we can help meet increasing diamond demand.”

Source URL: https://www.jewellerybusiness.com/news/de-beers-no-time-to-waste-to-invest-in-diamond-pipeline/

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