By Staff Reporter
WINDHOEK
Diamond giant De Beers yesterday stated that it would restructure its subsidiary Diamdel Group, “to meet the challenges in the current diamond market”.
The Diamdel Group, originally established in Antwerp in 1964, is a commercially and financially independent subsidiary of De Beers that satisfies the diamond demand in secondary markets by supplying a broad range of customers located in the diamond-cutting centres.
After assessing past and future patterns in supply volumes, especially in the gem sector, the availability of goods has decreased significantly over the past seven years and is forecast to continue to decrease, contended Ipupa Davids from the External and Corporate Affairs Department at De Beers in Windhoek.
“This has brought into sharp focus the efficiency of the De Beers Group’s trading companies and has been the catalyst for the decision to consider the feasibility of certain corporate restructuring options, which includes the Diamdel Group,” Davids noted.
Diamdel will continue to sell to non-sightholders, principally through Diamdel NV in Antwerp and Hindustan Diamond Corporation (HDC) in India.
All operations, with the exception of HDC, will be scaled back. As far as Diamdel Namibia is concerned, said Davids, no jobs will be lost in the process.
“Internationally, out of a workforce of 62, it is anticipated that around 30 staff will be affected.”
The Diamdel office in South Africa will cease trading altogether, but staff there will be seconded to the soon-to-be established State Diamond Trader in that country.
The State Diamond Trader can only be established once the Diamond Export Levy Bill is in place, which is expected to be enacted by the end of August.
In Namibia, it is expected that Namibia Diamond Trading Company (NDTC), the new sales and marketing company owned jointly by De Beers and the Namibian government, will consider applications for supply from diamond-manufacturing operations in the country.
A provision for the supply to the NDTC is a valid Namibian cutting and polishing licence, and compliance with NDTC’s criteria.