The Diamond Trading Company Announces Provisional Sightholder List

The Diamond Trading Company (DTC) has announced the provisional qualification of 72 Sightholders for the upcoming Supplier of Choice (SoC) contract period, which begins on 31 March 2012 and runs to 30 March 2015. As part of the provisional list, 66 applicants have qualified for supply in London, 10 in South Africa, 21 in Botswana, 13 in Namibia and 2 in respect of Canadian goods.

Every applicant for a Supplier of Choice Sightholder contract has been through a rigorous and objective selection process, based upon the information they provided in their Contract Proposal Questionnaire (CPQ). The relative score for each CPQ, combined with the DTC?s forecast availability in each category of rough diamonds, is used to determine the level of supply offered.

Additionally, all applicants are required to confirm their adherence to the De Beers Best Practice Principles, ensuring that, like all companies within the De Beers Group, Sightholders are 'living up to diamonds' by adopting the highest ethical standards in their business practices.

In applying the Sightholder criteria, against which all applicants have been assessed, the DTC is seeking diamantaires that are the very best in their field, committed to investment and innovation, passionate about diamonds and best placed to add value to the diamonds we sell.

For unsuccessful applicants, the potential remains for them to qualify for a SoC contract during the course of the 2012-2015 contract period. Any company purchasing goods through the Diamdel auctions may, based upon demonstrating strong demand for a particular category of goods, be invited to apply for a Sightholder supply contract, subject to the DTC's forecast availability.

Varda Shine, DTC CEO, commented on the announcement: “With a growing gap between rough diamond demand and supply globally, the key to growth during this 'Diamond Decade' is adding value, which is at the core of the Supplier of Choice strategy. The Sightholders who have qualified for the 2012-2015 contract period have demonstrated their strong capabilities in this area.”Philippe Mellier, CEO of De Beers Group, said: “The success of the DTC is measured by its partnerships with producer countries and with its Sightholders. Competition for supply has been very intense, and the qualifying applicants represent a world-class set of diamantaires who are well placed to add value to the diamonds we sell.”

Prior to confirming the offer of a DTC supply contract, all newly qualified applicants will have their CPQ's verified by a third party and, at the DTC's discretion, returning Sightholders' CPQs may also be verified.

The DTC is committed to beneficiation and, as part of the new contract period, more De Beers diamonds than ever before will be made available to a larger pool of Sightholders in Botswana and Namibia. Adding further value to diamonds in-country has proven to drive job creation, skills evelopment and economic diversification.

-The Israeli Diamond Industry