Zim to ‘shape’ global diamond industry in few years says UK securities firm

Charles Stanley Securities said Zimbabwe’s “huge” diamond reserves are set to “shape” the global diamond industry over the next few years.
A commodities analyst with the UK securities firm, Kieron Hodgson was quoted by New Ziana news agency as saying that although the exact resource base of the Marange diamond fields remained unknown, official figures pegged it between 60 000 and 70 000 hectares.
“Zimbabwe really does have the potential to upset the applecart,” he said.
Hodgson said the southern African country was also expected to produce between two and three million carats per month at peak for around 20 years.
He said the country’s diamonds would dominate the Chinese and Indian markets since the US imposed sanctions on Marange Resources and Mbada Diamond, which both operate in the area.
“China is a massive investor in Zimbabwe so I think that China and Zimbabwe are likely to be very close trading partners with diamonds,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Indian Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) said the United States should reconsider its ban on rough diamonds from Marange.
The council said some diamond manufacturers were not willing to trade with firms in Zimbabwe as a result of the US sanctions despite the low prices that were being offered.
"India has the potential to create more employment in the diamond and jewellery manufacturing centre, provided the US lifts its ban on Zimbabwe diamonds," Sanjay Kothari, the vice-chairman of the GJEPC said.
Zimbabwe, which is currently the seventh largest producer of diamonds in the world, had potential to supply 25 percent of global demand.
It had also been tipped to become the third largest producer by the end of this decade.

Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished