IDE President, Shmuel Schnitzer, "Despite the difficulties, there are opportunities because our competitors, which operate in a financial bubble that is risky, are also undergoing a difficult period and this can work to our advantage."
Increasing marketing budgets, creating marketing platform for end consumers, and different identifying and documenting for synthetic diamonds were just some of the many important ideas raised yesterday on Tuesday by individuals and companies in a special session of the diamond bourse held to deal with the crisis gripping the industry.
Over IDE members and young people participated in a widespread discussion on current opportunities and challenges chaired by IDE President Shmuel Schnitzer, I s DMA President Kobi Korn and IDE Board members, who listened closely to the pressing issues raised by industry participants.
IDE Managing D irector Moti Besser gave a presentation on the IDE's financial performance in the first half of 2015, which showed a 20 percent fall in exports of polished diamonds. He also spoke about the issue of the industry’s credit situation with the banks, saying that it was now about 1.3 billion shekels , close to half the total in 2008 of 2.5 billion shekels .
Schnitzer said that the special meeting had been called to “enable bourse members to raise their concerns and discuss suggestions so we can strengthen the ties between the managers of the bourse and its members.”
Schnitzer also informed the meeting about the moves taken by the bourse to come up with solutions to the downturn, and said that bourse management is acting as one to deal with the problems facing the diamond trade.
I s DMA President Kobi Korn commented that industry data from the last 20 years showed that the current situation was difficult. "We’re seeing a fall in credit, exports, imports and prices and above all – a decline in profitability. The drop in rough imports has increased the deficit and we’ll have to cut down on some activities we had planned for next year . ”
Diamond Controller Shmuel Mordechai said that 2014 was a good year, and that the comparison of the first half of 2015 with the same period last year “shows an inaccurate picture”. He spoke about the Modern Manufacturing Center that opened last year in Ramat Gan, which increases local manufacturing, and concluded by saying that “we’ll have to find solutions to enhance marketing to other diamond markets . ”
Yoram Dvash, Chairman of the Industry and Marketing Committee and organizer of the symposium, said that there was a problem for manufacturers and the wider industry since just a few diamond producers controlled the global rough market. He also said: “Most of our revenue is directed at maintaining infrastructure, and not enough is left to promote other industry related initiatives”. He called on all bourse members to become involved and join the bourse’s activities.
The session also focused on online marketing, purchase of rough, synthetic diamonds and the importance of getting buyers to come to Israel.
Schnitzer ended the meeting by saying that the current crisis should be dealt with seriously, however the industry should stay hopeful: “We must focus on manufacturing, without which there is no industry or trade. This needs to be the focus – from purchasing rough to manufacturing. We also need to bring along the future generation of the industry, so they can lead it in times to come . ”
