Sightholder list tops talk at DTC event
January 17, 2008
London—The newly revised sightholder list and the growing importance of India and China were two of the topics addressed during the Diamond Trading Co. (DTC) sightholder cocktail party.
De Beers Chairman Nicky Oppenheimer and Managing Director Gareth Penny, along with DTC Managing Director Varda Shine, each took turns addressing the crowd during the gala, held Wednesday night in London.
Oppenheimer told guests he hopes the “friendships” endure with sightholders whose supplies were cut off for the 2008-2011 contract period.
In December, the DTC announced that it would have 79 total sightholders for the new three-year contract period beginning in April, down from 93.
But, Oppenheimer added, “it is exciting to welcome new players who I am sure will add luster and vibrancy to the industry as a whole.”
He also said the emergence of India, China and the Middle East as major diamond buyers will provide a balance to the U.S.’s position as the world’s major diamond buyer.
Penny too addressed the importance of India and China, where an emerging middle class is making for increased competition in the diamond-buying world.
He said De Beers “looks forward” to opening several new mines this year and has also sold off some of the mines that “no longer fit with the business model we seek to deploy.”
“To attain profitable growth,” he said, “we must remain aware of costs. As India and China continue to register outstanding economic growth, their demand for finite supplies of natural resources has resulted in higher resource prices.”
In addressing the crowd, Shine said she believes the new sightholder list was “implemented fairly and objectively,” though she acknowledges that there are some “well-run and well-managed” companies that the DTC would continue to supply, “if only we had enough diamonds to do so.”
Shine also said De Beers Group Marketing will continue to build consumer demand for and confidence in diamonds, and that the “Forevermark” will become a universal brand.
“As you know, in the future, participation in the Forevermark will be open to all eligible diamantaires and not just DTC sightholders,” she said. “This means that existing and new DTC sightholders, through their continuing compliance with the Best Practice Principles, will meet one of the fundamental criteria to be a Forevermark diamantaire.”