Diamond mining in the world
Diamond mining is carried out in 22 countries in the world, but if you select major diamond producing countries – exceeding $1 billion a year by the value of extracted diamonds - you can merge them into a group called BRACS: Botswana, Russia, Angola, Canada and South Africa (Tables 1 and 2).
Table 1
BRACS diamond mining countries in 2008-2011, according to the Kimberley Process
The table is compiled by the author based on the data from the Annual Global Summary: 2009, 2010, 2011, Production, Imports, Exports and KPC Counts.
Table 2
Diamond production, import and export by BRACS countries in 2010-2011
Note: The numerator contains data for 2010, the denominator - for 2011.
The table is compiled by the author based on the data from the Annual Global Summary: 2010, 2011, Production, Imports, Exports and KPC Counts.
As can be seen from the above data, the BRACS countries play a key role in the global diamond industry producing more than 2/3 of diamonds by volume and 5/6 by value, which means a higher level of organization in the diamond trade. In addition, it should be noted that these countries have their own diamond cutting industries.
Import and export of diamonds
However, if you look at the share of BRACS in diamond exports, which is only a quarter of the global diamond export value, it is clear that a number of countries involved in the resale play a more important role in the diamond trade (Table 3).
Table 3
The leading diamond importers and exporters in 2009-2011, according to the Kimberley Process
Note: The numerator contains import data, the denominator – export data.
The table is compiled by the author based on the data from the Annual Global Summary: 2009, 2010, 2011, Production, Imports, Exports and KPC Counts.
India and the European Union stand out on the backdrop of the world’s traditional diamond trading centers, accounting for nearly 40% of global diamond exports and 60% of global diamond imports. Recently, these are being overtaken by China and the United Arab Emirates, which can be called new global diamond trade centers. It is also noteworthy that the United States enjoys an insignificant proportion in the world diamond trade (1.3% in imports and 0.9% in exports). Thus, the state of the global diamond market is mainly determined not only by traditional diamond centers, but also by new global diamond trade centers, where growth of consumption is propping up the falling demand for rough and polished diamonds caused by the global economic crisis.
It should also be noted that a small amount of diamonds is mined only in India and China (Table 4).
Table 4
Diamond production, imports and exports by leading diamond importers and exporters in 2010-2011
The table is compiled by the author based on the data from the Annual Global Summary: Production, Imports, Exports and KPC Counts 2010, 2011.
Note: The numerator contains data for 2010, the denominator – for 2011.
The future development prospects for the global diamond business
The current stage of development of the global diamond business is characterized by the following factors:
1. It is possible to single out a group of countries called BRACS which produce the major part of rough diamonds by value. In the coming years, these countries will continue their dominance in the global diamond mining and will continue to develop the diamond cutting industry, making their alliance in the diamond business perspective and promising.
2. Along with traditional diamond centers in the world diamond trade there emerge new ones, which are China and the UAE. This is facilitated by increased consumption in these countries and regions associated with their high economic growth, which largely compensates for the decline in demand for rough and polished diamonds triggered by the crisis in the eurozone.
3. The United States is gradually losing its leading role in the global diamond trade, and in the future an increasing role will be played by new global diamond centers.
Yuri Danilov, Ph. D., Director of the Department of Regional Subsoil Management Economics, Institute for Regional Economics of the North at Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University
