Maxim Shkadov, the newly elected President of the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA), who is also CEO of Kristall, is well known for his plain speaking on problems facing the diamond industry. This time he focused on the situation in the diamond market in the run-up to the all-important period of holiday sales in the year end.
In a press release received by Rough&Polished, the President of IDMA, commenting on the latest sight run by De Beers in early October, noted that the miner’s position was somewhat puzzling to diamantaires. “Right now no one can confirm there is stabilization in the diamond market both for rough and polished goods”, he said. “Overloaded stocks of expensive rough, sluggish demand for diamonds and falling prices put pressure on companies, killing profitability.”
Maxim Shkadov believes that to stabilize the situation in such an environment it is necessary to reduce the inflow of rough to the market rather than claim to have a $750 million sight. “In fact, it looks like the last attempt to collect cash from the market in order to prove true before shareholders,” the IDMA President said. “But the year is not over yet and stabilization will require at least 6 months. Wouldn’t it be better to disclose the real state of affairs on the market rather than issue triumphant reports about some nonexistent market situation?”
Vladimir Malakhov, Rough&Polished, Moscow
