Nosiphiwo Mzamo: South Africa’s State Diamond Trader to buy diamonds from other African countries

South Africa’s State Diamond Trader (SDT) is set to buy diamonds from other African countries starting with Botswana. SDT’s chief executive Nosiphiwo Mzamo told Rough & Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa at the country’s inaugural diamond show, which...

10 february 2025

Edahn Golan: Halo effect from lab-grown diamonds driving high demand for large, 2-carat natural stones in the U.S.

Edahn Golan, owner of the eponymous Edahn Golan Diamond Research and Data, told Rough & Polished's Mathew Nyaungwa in an exclusive interview that their research found a halo effect from lab-grown diamonds. He said the trend among lab-grown diamond...

27 january 2025

Paul Zimnisky: We will see a modest recovery in natural diamond demand and prices in 2025

According to Paul Zimnisky, an independent diamond and jewellery analyst and consultant based in the New York metro area, the natural diamond industry will see a modest recovery in demand and prices this year. Zimnisky said a moderate recovery would...

13 january 2025

African Diamond Council makes traceability its top priority, wants KP to embrace Authentia.io

The African Diamond Council (ADC) has made traceability its foremost priority and has been contributing to a traceability solution called Authentia.io for the last three and a half years, which is now ready to globally satisfy the traceability...

16 december 2024

Gaetano Cavalieri: CIBJO leading the jewelry industry on critical issues

One of the gem and jewellery industry’s most well-known and respected personalities, Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri, has been the president of the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO), for the past 23 years. CIBJO is the oldest international organisation...

09 december 2024

Russia's Arctic LNG-2 project to ship first cargo in January - sources

16 january 2024

According to industry sources cited by Reuters, Russia's Arctic LNG-2 project is set to load its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker for Asia at the end of January.

The shipments come despite U.S. and Western sanctions imposed against the project last year with foreign shareholders suspending their participation.

Initial volumes of LNG shipments are expected to be small. One of the sources said the first cargo's delivery is expected at the end of the month, and the destination for it could be either China or South Korea. The first LNG tankers had been expected to set sail in the first quarter of 2024, according to Russia's Novatek, the operator of the project.

"Only third-tier Chinese companies with very limited exposure (or zero exposure) to the U.S. market will be able to touch this LNG," the source was quoted as saying.

With three processing trains, Arctic LNG-2's capacity is meant to be 19.8 million metric tons per year and 1.6 million tons per year of stable gas condensate.

Theodor Lisovoy, Editor in Chief of the European bureau, Rough&Polished