Seven of the world’s leading diamond mining companies announced their commitment to form the Diamond Producers Association (DPA). The founding members – ALROSA, De Beers, Rio Tinto, Dominion Diamond Corporation, Lucara Diamond Corporation, Petra Diamonds Ltd, and Gem Diamonds Ltd will work together to support the development of the diamond sector. The DPA is the first ever international representative organization to be formed by some of the leading diamond producers, with a corporate registration in London, England. The DPA’s remit will include Maintaining and enhancing consumer demand for and confidence in diamonds including joint category marketing initiatives;

• Providing a reliable source of industry information, including trade and consumer research


• Acting as the unified voice of the diamond producers, when required and/or appropriate, with industry and non-industry forums/organizations


• Communicating the role and contribution of diamond producers to the diamond sector and broader society; and


• Sharing best practices in health and safety, licence to operate, supply chain integrity and environment management.

The DPA will play an important and positive role in the diamond sector. It will actively engage with industry and non-industry organisations to promote the interests of the sector. The DPA will operate in compliance with all applicable competition/antitrust laws. It will have an initial minimum annual budget of US$6 million, based on commitments of founding members. This budget will enable the DPA to start operating effectively as soon as an Executive Director has been appointed. It will be reviewed annually based on the activity plan submitted to the Board for approval. A recruitment process has been initiated to appoint the Executive Director who will be responsible for the operational activity of the DPA and report to the Board. Along with the incorporation of the organisation, the appointment of an Executive Director and of a focused support team, the DPA’s 2015 activity plan includes the commissioning of research as a base to building a targeted activity plan for the next three years.

In an exclusive to The New Jeweller, Rony Unterman, Secretary General of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses speaks on the newly formed Diamond Producers’ Association and the Industry expectation...

Alrosa, De Beers, Rio Tinto, Dominion Diamond Corporation, Lucara Diamond Corp, Petra Diamonds and Gem Diamonds have come together to form the Diamond Producers Association. How important according to you is this unification and please explain the transitional effect that this will have in the Supply chain for the industry?

Clearly, this is an important step. This is a move that we heartily welcome. It has been rather a long time coming, but weare delighted with the announcement. We believe that the diamond jewelry industry generally has taken a step backwards in recent years since the ending of the De Beers generic diamond promotion campaigns.

We, at the WFDB, are fully behind the World Diamond Mark (WDM) and its campaigns aimed at the promoting diamond sales globally. We would be delighted to work together with the Diamond Producers Association to further strengthen such work for the joint benefit of all members of the diamond pipeline. The stakeholders must work together in a united fashion to ensure that the whole supply chain benefits. If there is a stronger demand at the retail end of the supply chain, thatevidently has an effect all the way back through the chain. Higher polished prices will make manufacturing more worthwhile. That in turn will help justify prices of rough goods.

The Diamond Producers Association does not have Companies from the Southern African region such as Zimbabwe, Angola, Congo etc. Is this clearly indicating a diversity among the producers or will the large mining corporations from the said African region be joining the Association at a later date?

The DPA represents mining firms which all have operations in Southern Africa, among others. They also represent the vast majority of global production. De Beers has operations in South Africa, Angola, Namibia and Botswana. Alrosa is involved in Angola and Botswana. Rio Tinto is involved in Zimbabwe.

Lucara operates in Botswana and Lesotho. Petra is in Botswana, Tanzania and South Africa, while Gem Diamonds is involved in Botswana and Lesotho. Indeed, these firms cover the entire global diamond mining industry, geographically, with De Beers also operating in Canada, and Alrosa, of course, with its huge Russian operations. I am sure the DPA would like to include miners from other countries, and we would also welcome further diversity.

The Industry has been reeling under pressure for quite some time now due to the absence of 'Generic Diamond Promotion'. Will the Diamond Producers Association plan and implement the generic diamond promotion for the benefit of the entire industry?

Well, this is a first step by the DPA, and I would imagine they would want to review their operations after the first year, and also then look into how they can expand further, both in terms of budget and range of work. As I mentioned above, real growth and prosperity for the industry can only come from persuading consumers to buy diamond and jewelry which then creates a ripple effect that benefits all other elements of the diamond industry, including the producers. We are very keen to see everyone involved in the global diamond and jewelry industry benefit – from miners digging out the stones and their families and communities all the way to retailers.

In your opinion what should be the roadmap for the Diamond Producers Association in the next two years to be taken up on an urgent basis, keeping in mind the pricing imbalance between Rough and Polished Diamonds?

This is really a question for the DPA and its representatives as we would not wish to second-guess their plans. In general terms, there has to be a great deal of advertising and promotion. We are glad to see that De Beers is bringing back its 'A diamond is forever' advertising line. Clearly, we would like to see the connection between diamonds and powerful human emotions and characteristics such as love, commitment, and long - term relationships firmly brought home to consumers. The World Diamond Mark's programs are aimed at boosting consumer sales and confidence. Raising sales will boost polished prices and bring profitability back to the business. We believe in the importance of generic marketing as the panacea for the diamond jewelry industry.

Mr Peter Meus, Chairman, Dubai Diamond Exchange shares his insights on the Diamond Producers’ Association and the logical roadmap concerning the entity.

Alrosa, De Beers, Rio Tinto, Dominion Diamond Corporation, Lucar a Diamond Corp, Petra Diamonds and Gem Diamonds have come together to form the Diamond Producers Association. How important according to you is this unification and please explain the transitional effect that this will have in the Supply chain for the industry?

The establishment of a DPA is long overdue. As I said at the Dubai Diamond Conference during the panel on Synthetics 'nobody likes De Beers but everybody misses them'. The need for generic advertising against the imminent rise of synthetic diamonds has driven competitors together. That certainly is a good thing. If 6 million dollars is enough to do a campaign to counter the threat is another question.

The Diamond Producers Association does not have Companies from the Southern African region such as Zimbabwe, Angola, Congo etc. Is this clearly indicating a diversity among the producers or will the large mining corporations from the said African region be joining the Association at a later date?

I understood that it is the wish of the DPA to become an inclusive organisation. I expect them to reach out soon to other African producers, especially since 2/3 of all rough diamonds come from Africa.

In your opinion what should be the roadmap for the Diamond Producers Association in the next two years to be taken up on an urgent basis, keeping in mind the pricing imbalance between Rough and Polished Diamonds?

Pricing is a sensitive issue because I am sure the DPA will not want to be seen as a cartel. On the other hand one cannot ignore that the current practice of buying rough cash at high prices and selling polished on 180 days at declining prices cannot be sustained very long. It is probably the most pressing issue at stake for the middle market. The health of the business should certainly become a key interest point of the DPA, obviously within the limits of what can and cannot be done under international legislation.