Exclusive
Diamond market crash is Africa’s opportunity, not its crisis – M'zée Fula Ngenge
Global natural diamond supply is forecast to fall below 95 million carats this year, the lowest since 1987. For Dr. M'zée Fula Ngenge, chairperson of the African Diamond Council (ADC), this is not a death knell but a clarion call. In an exclusive...
Yesterday
Tracr passes 5 million rough diamonds milestone as De Beers expands provenance push
De Beers Group's blockchain-enabled traceability platform Tracr reached a significant milestone in 2025, with more than 5 million rough diamonds individually scanned and registered, up from 2.8 million cumulative registrations reported in 2024. The...
28 september 2026
South African diamonds head to Hong Kong: SDT partners with BRINKS for JGW 2026
South Africa’s State Diamond Trader (SDT) has confirmed the country's participation in Jewellery & Gem World Hong Kong (JGW) 2026 through a partnership with BRINKS. SDT marketing and communication manager Tsholofelo Gopolang Tselapedi...
14 september 2026
David Benderly: PermaScribe seeks to put trust mark on diamond table, not just girdle
In this interview with Rough & Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa, PhotoScribe Technologies president and chief executive David Benderly explains how PermaScribe differs technically from conventional laser inscription, its potential to strengthen security, and...
31 august 2026
The great reset: Paul Zimnisky on supply catharsis, De Beers' bargain and the case for natural diamonds
The natural diamond industry is in the throes of its most profound reset in a generation. Supply is plunging to its lowest level since 1987 and De Beers—once valued at over $9 billion—is reportedly being sold for as little as $1 billion.
Lab-grown...
10 august 2026
Geopolitics And The Future Of Trade
18 april 2022
As I write, it is the 31st March 2022, and the closing ceremonies of Expo 2020 Dubai are taking place. Having visited and hosted many guests and dignitaries over the past six months, I have not only been overwhelmed by the ingenuity and variety of the exhibitions, pavilions and shows, but the congregation of people and nations who have proudly participated to present the best of what each has to offer.
The life of jewellers under sanctions: what will it be like?
11 april 2022
On February 24, 2022, the jewellery business, like any other business in Russia, was divided into “before” and “after”. Without an actual suspension of the circulation of the main currencies (dollar and euro), the events led to the de facto return of the currency status to precious metals, primarily gold. While before February 24, jewellers considered gold exclusively as a raw material for jewellery manufacturing, after this date, Russian jewellers have to reckon with the virtually new status of this precious metal.
Indian diamond industry to log annual growth rate of 5-7 per cent over the medium term
04 april 2022
The diamond industry in India has survived many upheavals since its humble beginning sometime in 1966, but always survived them only to become stronger and more resilient. Today, some of the world’s largest diamond companies are Indian including 33 accredited buyers and many other contracted buyers of the world’s major diamond producers. Indian diamond companies own and operate diamond-polishing facilities in Botswana, Namibia, China, Vietnam and many other countries across the globe. The main Indian diamond cutting & polishing centre in Surat presently employs more than 0.8 million artisans and other employees and manufactures 14 out of 15 diamonds in the world. So, when the geopolitical situation in Russia began over a month ago, it was not surprising for the Indian diamond industry to be concerned as the Russian miner ALROSA was a rough diamond supplier to the Indian industry. Being known as the diamond manufacturing centre of the world, the Surat sector was apprehensive initially. But, known for its resiliency the Indian industry soon found its footing and organized itself to run the sector without any hindrances, especially in the rough supply area.
PGMs overtakes iron ore as the key driver for Anglo core earnings
28 march 2022
Anglo American recently released its financial report for the year 2021, which showed that its underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by $10.8 billion to $20.6 billion in 2021 compared to $9.8 billion in 2020.
Rough diamond supply/demand imbalance pushing prices higher
21 march 2022
Diamond producers reduced their production by 20% in 2020 from 2019 levels to 107 million carats, according to ALROSA. “The natural decline amid planned decommissioning of large, depleted deposits was exacerbated by COVID-19 and consequent lockdowns,” it said in a market analysis last year. “A key milestone for the entire diamond industry was the closure of Australia's Argyle mine in November 2020, which accounted for up to 10% of global diamond production.” Data released by Bain & Company shows that rough diamond prices fell 7% in 2019 and 11% in 2020.
Palladium is at the peak again but this victory looks like a Pyrrhic one
14 march 2022
Commodity prices skyrocketed in late February this year in response to a military escalation in the Ukraine that could result in wide-ranging sanctions against Russian exporters. Russia’s Norilsk Nickel, the largest palladium producer, like its main beneficiaries, is not included in the sanctions list, but faces serious restrictions in the sale of its products. The ban on flights over Europe has made it difficult to ship metal, which is usually transported by passenger airplanes. Fears of a sharp deterioration in the availability of the metal pushed palladium prices up, which have skyrocketed nearly 60% since the start of 2022, to $3,000 an ounce, nearly reaching their May 2021 peak.
Diamond market and war: A historical aspect
07 march 2022
Historical analogies are not a very reliable analytical tool, but sometimes, they make you think about the motives of conflicts, the understanding of which may be more important and more interesting in the long term than up-to-date operational forecasts.
Mining with a female face
05 march 2022
Yesterday, the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum, which traditionally discusses the economic development prospects of Siberia, completed its work in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Rough&Polished's Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Mathew Nyaungwa participated in the forum online panel session, "Global Trends in Human Capital." This article is a result of opinions and information exchanged between experts.
GJEPC weighs the impact of events in Ukraine on Indian diamond industry
02 march 2022
Colin Shah, Chairman of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, India (GJEPC) commented below the impact of the US sanctions imposed on Russia, which could affect the Indian diamond industry, as per a note sent by the GJEPC to Rough&Polished.
U.S. Sanctions Target Alrosa And Its CEO
28 february 2022
On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury announced a long list of sanctions against Russia, with some taking aim at state-owned diamond miner Alrosa and its CEO, Sergey S. Ivanov. The new rules do not proscribe U.S. companies from doing business with Alrosa. Instead, President Biden’s executive order forbids them from engaging in transactions with the publicly traded miner involving “new debt of longer than 14 days maturity or new equity.” While these moves are an attempt to limit Alrosa’s ability to raise U.S. capital, they could affect other transactions, says a member alert from the Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC).
