Diamond & Jewelry News, Advice and Prices for Consumers
Diamond & Jewelry News, Advice and Prices for Consumers
August 19, 2010
Botswana is the number one rough diamond exporting country in the world and I wonder how it is coping with the current recession in the diamond industry. I know that diamond production companies have limited diamond supply even more than they do in normal days, so diamond prices could remain high. Does that mean that very few diamonds are mined in Botswana, or that diamond mining is in the same ratio as always, and the reduction of supply is taking place between the diamond polishing companies (in Belgium, Israel or India) and diamond dealers, without affecting the African countries' diamond output?
August 22, 2010
Well, Botswana is suffering from the economic recession. It is true that in the level of diamond polishing companies the recession has a bigger impact, with many workers losing their jobs (you can see the impact on Surat's diamond production companies), but the diamond industry in Botswana is also taking a downturn. According to an article I have read recently, the DTCB (Diamond Trading Company Botswana) cannot fulfill its diamond mining aspirations due to the current recession. The initial plan was to expand diamond mining in Botswana this year, but due to the recession there were much fewer job positions created than expected. Though some diamond polish companies want to keep polished diamond production in a decent level and actually object the fact that companies such as De Beers group limit their diamond supply, there is still a general trend of lower demand which damages rough diamond exporting countries as well. Botswana diamond industry relies on the US diamond import, which has been decreased very significantly in the last 12 months.
The DTCB vision before the recession was to attract many foreign diamond polishing companies to establish operations within Botswana, thus becoming official sight holders of the DTCB, increasing the Botswana's government revenues and creating many new job opportunities for local workers. In fact this couldn't be accomplished this year. Still, things aren't that bad for the DTCB, which did create new job opportunities (which isn't trivial in times that most industries worldwide cut their working staff), only not as many as previously predicted.
Demand for polished diamonds is low worldwide, while the rough diamond market is more stable, much due to the wise businessmaking of rough diamond companies (De Beers, Rio Tinto, etc). DTCB is in fact a joint venture between De Beers and Botswana's government, thus one should take their current slow business period in proportions, since the DTCB is a very firm player in the diamond industry.
The DTCB is hoping that diamond demand in the US will increase prominently in this holiday season, though it begins to appreciate the growing diamond market in China, which in the future could become an important diamond importing country, as Botswana is concerned.
