Canadian rough diamonds for sale.
That’s the message from Dominion Diamond Marketing Corp. president, James R.W. Pounds, who met with Israeli diamond industry and trade representatives ahead of the U.S. & Israel Diamond Week.
The four-day visit included a meeting with Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) president Yair Sahar. Dominion’s vice-president of sales, Harsh Dalal, also participated.
“Pounds’ exploratory visit here is the result of a series of preparatory talks I have conducted during the past months,” Sahar said. “Israel’s diamond industry needs suppliers such as Dominion to sustain its high-level manufacturing capabilities, and we think that Israel and Dominion are a good fit.
“With the takeover of BHP’s diamond interests, Dominion now controls the output of two of the world’s most prolific diamond mines—Ekati and Diavik—which produce high-quality diamonds that are of great interest to the Israeli diamond industry and trade. We genuinely hope Dominion will find it justified to add more Israeli firms to its customer portfolio.”
The meetings resulted in the decision to hold tenders of large rough in Israel starting in 2014.
“We feel very welcome here, and are impressed with the vibrant energy of Israel’s diamond industry and trade,” Pounds said. “Israel… is one of the most advanced diamond trading, distribution, and manufacturing hubs. I can assure our Israeli colleagues we will take everything we learn here back with us and carefully weigh our options.”
