De Beers To Unveil New Sight Application Demands

The mining giant will also use the De Beers name more prominently as it rebrands its business units.

De Beers aims to reveal to Sightholders the demands the miner will make in considering applications for the Sight period that starts in April next year at its Sight next month, said Paul Rowley, De Beers Vice President of Global Sightholder Sales.

The firm also aims to leverage the use of the De Beers name in a move aimed at "rebranding all business units under the De Beers name", he said at a briefing for industry journalists in Tel Aviv, IDEX Online reported. De Beers held talks with American Sightholders following the JCK Show in Las Vegas earlier this month and has also held talks with Indian clients. Trips are planned to are planning trips to Belgium and Hong Kong to conclude the consultation exercise.

Accompanied by Nigel Simson, Senior Vice President of Sightholder Services for De Beers Global Sightholder Sales, the senior company officials were at pains to stress the importance of transparency and good financial governance for potential Sightholders. "There is a lot of volatility in the market, so we need to see greater financial positivity," Simson explained.

They said that talks with Sightholders around the world had persuaded them that "flexibility and simplification" were required in the application process. But the need for adherence to best practice principles, high levels of financial governance and transparency were still high priority.

Adherence to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) was also going to be a requirement, Rowley said, while pointing out that not all Sightholders were up to speed and would given time to do so.

He said that talks with Sightholders in Ramat Gan and with members of the presidency of the Israel Diamond Exchange had shown them that Israeli firms were financially strong. "Debt has come down, and there are good levels of equity in the business in Israel."

The mining giant is also keen to see evidence of companies with a "robust financial position" who can "take the industry forward," Rowley stressed. He added that applications will start to be accepted from around September.

Simson explained that getting rid of the contract proposal questionnaire (CPQ) that was a vital part of the Sightholder application for previous contract periods was part of the simplification process. "Consultation has been important but that does not distract us from our core principles," Simson commented.

He said that the intention to offer (ITO) mechanism would remain a paramount factor. "ITO is the main vehicle for supply. It gives continuity and stability in scheduling supplies for Sightholders throughout the year."

On the issue of rebranding and using the De Beers name in the midstream part of its operations, Simson said: "We are moving away from the Diamond Trading Company (DTC) branding in our marketing so that we can capitalize on the strength of the De Beers name for Sightholders, auction sales and the Forevermark brand."

Rowley said the aim was to bring all elements together "under the same De Beers umbrella".

He said that De Beers has 84 Sightholders. Most of them receive Sights at the global sales unit in Gaborone, while other firms received rough supplies at Sights in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Canada. De Beers also sells 10 percent of its rough diamonds at auctions, which allow it to receive "a window on the state of the global market," Rowley commented.