Forging a new legacy: Tshenolo Ntshekang on building a black-owned diamond beneficiation business in South Africa

In an industry historically defined by limited access and foreign dominance, Tshenolo Ntshekang is carving a new path. The founder of Banzi and Karolo Projects, a black-owned diamond beneficiation business, Ntshekang, represents a growing wave of...

03 november 2025

Mahiar Borhanjoo returns to ‘The Heart Of The Diamond Business’

Having started his career in the diamond trade at De Beers in London, Mahiar Borhanjoo returned to the diamond giant last year as Chief Commercial Officer after working for a decade for other diamond companies. Mahiar explains why he returned to De Beers...

27 october 2025

Mubri president Ali Pastorini: You just need to play a transparent game and do everything possible to attract clients

Ali Pastorini, co-owner of the DEL LIMA JEWERLY and president of the Mubri International Association, which unites more than 2,500 wholesalers, retailers, and designers from 18 countries. In this interview with Rough&Polished Ali Pastorini talks about...

20 october 2025

Dr M'zée Fula Ngenge: Diamond industry must embrace transparency, new sales models to survive

The global diamond industry must fundamentally overhaul its opaque and inefficient sales systems to survive a severe price slump and compete with lab-grown stones, according to Dr M'zée Fula Ngenge, Chairman of the African Diamond Council (ADC)...

13 october 2025

There will continue to be a bifurcation between natural and synthetic diamonds, and people will return to natural stones, Billiton Diamond Auctions Director Antony Dear believes

Antony Dear began his career in the diamond business in 1991 and is experienced in all the available diamond trading systems to date. In an exclusive interview with Rough&Polished, Antony Dear speaks about the current state of diamond auctions and tenders...

06 october 2025

Container cargo turnover in Russian Arctic ports increase by 19%

29 october 2024

In January-September 2024, the shipment container turnover of the ports of the Arctic basin amounted to 141,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent capacity).

This is 18.8% more than in the same period last year, according to the analytical marine and river transport data provided by the Mortsentr-TEK.

The total container turnover of Russian seaports in the first nine months of this year amounted to 4,103 million TEU, which is 11.9% more than a year earlier.

Alex Shishlo, Editor in Chief of the European Bureau Rough&Polished