Dr M'zée Fula Ngenge: Demand for considerable-sized diamonds stronger than ever

The African Diamond Council (ADC) chairperson Dr M'zée Fula Ngenge told Rough & Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa in an exclusive interview that although overall global diamond prices have been somewhat soft, the demand for considerable-sized diamonds...

02 september 2024

Amplats sees prospects as a standalone company

Anglo has revealed its plans to demerge Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), which has operations in South Africa and Zimbabwe, to optimise shareholder value. Rough&Polished contacted Amplats to comment on this and other issues but was referred...

19 august 2024

WFDB President Yoram Dvash Remains Confident Despite Global Diamond Challenges

Yoram Dvash is President of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) having been elected in 2020. He found time in his busy schedule to speak to Rough&Polished about the state of the diamond industry around the world and some of the major...

12 august 2024

Lyudmila Vysotskaya: Amber is a mystical stone, a living substance

Lyudmila Vysotskaya is a Kaliningrad-based amber artist and designer, expert, chairwoman of the Amber Academy and member of the Creative Union of Artists in Decorative and Applied Arts. This summer, visitors could admire the art works by Lyudmila Vysotskaya...

30 july 2024

De Beers shines light on budding jewellery designers

Diamond giant De Beers will this year conduct its bi-annual Shining Light Awards jewellery design competition. De Beers beneficiation manager Kagiso Fredericks told Rough & Polished's Mathew Nyaungwa in an exclusive interview they set aside 4.5 carats...

22 july 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