Petra Diamonds founder steps down

South Africa’s Petra Diamonds is saying goodbye to Adonis Pouroulis, the company’s founder and chairman for 23 years.

The diamond producer, which dropped the role of chief operating officer in November because of management restructuring, said Pouroulis is being succeeded by Peter Hill, who was appointed a non-executive director of Petra and chairman-designate in December.

Hill began his career in the gold division of Anglo American, moving later to Rossing Uranium in Namibia, then to London as mining engineer with then BP Minerals, and later joining Consolidated Gold Fields.

Petra has been seeking to turn around its fortunes after piling up debt to expand its iconic Cullinan mine in South Africa, where the world’s largest-ever diamond was found in 1905.

In September, it reported a 22% drop in annual profit amid falling diamond prices and the company’s investment in Cullinan aimed at reviving the aging operation. The company’s share price collapsed to a record low as it also revealed it was writing down the value of its mines. 

Just when the first signs of stabilization in the sector were starting to appear, the novel coronavirus pandemic forced Petra to halt its production outlook for 2020.

The company closed its mines in South Africa last week for a mandatory 21-day lockdown aimed at slowing the spread of covid-19.

Its remote Williamson diamond mine, in Tanzania, said Petra, continues to be “closely monitored.”

Souce: DCLA

Petra Diamonds founder steps down

South Africa’s Petra Diamonds is saying goodbye to Adonis Pouroulis, the company’s founder and chairman for 23 years.

The diamond producer, which dropped the role of chief operating officer in November because of management restructuring, said Pouroulis is being succeeded by Peter Hill, who was appointed a non-executive director of Petra and chairman-designate in December.

Hill began his career in the gold division of Anglo American, moving later to Rossing Uranium in Namibia, then to London as mining engineer with then BP Minerals, and later joining Consolidated Gold Fields.

Petra has been seeking to turn around its fortunes after piling up debt to expand its iconic Cullinan mine in South Africa, where the world’s largest-ever diamond was found in 1905.

In September, it reported a 22% drop in annual profit amid falling diamond prices and the company’s investment in Cullinan aimed at reviving the aging operation. The company’s share price collapsed to a record low as it also revealed it was writing down the value of its mines. 

Just when the first signs of stabilization in the sector were starting to appear, the novel coronavirus pandemic forced Petra to halt its production outlook for 2020.

The company closed its mines in South Africa last week for a mandatory 21-day lockdown aimed at slowing the spread of covid-19.

Its remote Williamson diamond mine, in Tanzania, said Petra, continues to be “closely monitored.”

Souce: DCLA

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De Beers Cancels Upcoming Sight

De Beers has called off this week’s sight in Botswana, citing restrictions resulting from measures to contain the coronavirus.

Lockdowns in Botswana, South Africa and India are prohibiting sightholders from traveling and preventing the shipment of merchandise to clients’ international operations, De Beers said in a statement Monday. The company is letting sightholders defer 100% of their supply allocations to later in the year, as reported by Rapaport News on Thursday.

The miner “will continue to seek innovative ways to meet sightholders’ rough-diamond supply needs in the coming weeks,” it continued.

The sale was due to run from March 30 to April 3 in Gaborone. However, on March 16, Botswana banned entry to visitors from 18 countries, including US, China, India and Belgium — making attendance impossible for most sightholders.

Customers can usually buy De Beers’ rough remotely due to the consistency of the diamond assortments. However, demand is extremely weak as the manufacturing sector in Surat, India, has closed and the US retail market has largely shut down. In addition, the ability to transport goods around the world is limited. Sales were likely to be extremely low, rough-market sources told Rapaport News.

The unprecedented conditions prompted the World Diamond Council (WDC) and six major trade organizations to ask the CEOs of De Beers and Alrosa to consider offering complete flexibility on purchasing obligations. In a March 20 letter, bourses and trade groups in India, Belgium and Israel joined the WDC in urging the miners to treat the situation as a “force majeure” — an unforeseeable circumstance that prevents the fulfilment of a contract.

“With so many companies now down to a fraction of sales, it is imperative to keep the right balance to secure their short-term viability,” the organizations wrote.

Alrosa allowed more flexibility than normal at its March rough sale, enabling customers to defer 60% of their allocations. However, responding to the letter, it emphasized the importance of all industry participants supporting each other.

“COVID-19 is a new challenge for all of us, and it requires the industry from mine to retail to stand together and take joint innovative steps, not avoid them at the expense of others,” Alrosa CEO Sergey Ivanov wrote. “Walking away from mutual obligations is shortsighted.”

Source: DCLA

De Beers Cancels Upcoming Sight

De Beers has called off this week’s sight in Botswana, citing restrictions resulting from measures to contain the coronavirus.

Lockdowns in Botswana, South Africa and India are prohibiting sightholders from traveling and preventing the shipment of merchandise to clients’ international operations, De Beers said in a statement Monday. The company is letting sightholders defer 100% of their supply allocations to later in the year, as reported by Rapaport News on Thursday.

The miner “will continue to seek innovative ways to meet sightholders’ rough-diamond supply needs in the coming weeks,” it continued.

The sale was due to run from March 30 to April 3 in Gaborone. However, on March 16, Botswana banned entry to visitors from 18 countries, including US, China, India and Belgium — making attendance impossible for most sightholders.

Customers can usually buy De Beers’ rough remotely due to the consistency of the diamond assortments. However, demand is extremely weak as the manufacturing sector in Surat, India, has closed and the US retail market has largely shut down. In addition, the ability to transport goods around the world is limited. Sales were likely to be extremely low, rough-market sources told Rapaport News.

The unprecedented conditions prompted the World Diamond Council (WDC) and six major trade organizations to ask the CEOs of De Beers and Alrosa to consider offering complete flexibility on purchasing obligations. In a March 20 letter, bourses and trade groups in India, Belgium and Israel joined the WDC in urging the miners to treat the situation as a “force majeure” — an unforeseeable circumstance that prevents the fulfilment of a contract.

“With so many companies now down to a fraction of sales, it is imperative to keep the right balance to secure their short-term viability,” the organizations wrote.

Alrosa allowed more flexibility than normal at its March rough sale, enabling customers to defer 60% of their allocations. However, responding to the letter, it emphasized the importance of all industry participants supporting each other.

“COVID-19 is a new challenge for all of us, and it requires the industry from mine to retail to stand together and take joint innovative steps, not avoid them at the expense of others,” Alrosa CEO Sergey Ivanov wrote. “Walking away from mutual obligations is shortsighted.”

Source: DCLA

Surat Diamond Manufacturing Shuts Down

The entire polishing industry in Surat has shut until March 31 after Indian authorities introduced tight restrictions to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Activities stopped on Tuesday in line with a lockdown enforced by the Gujarat state government. The Bharat Diamond Bourse in Mumbai also closed from Friday until the end of the month following similar measures in Maharashtra state.

“In this panic situation, all are requested to stay at home, [stay] healthy, and spend time with family,” the Surat Diamond Association and the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) said in a joint letter to the Surat trade on Saturday. The organizations urged companies to shut their offices and manufacturing units in the city, the world’s largest center for polishing. Safe-deposit vaults will remain open for two hours each day, they noted.

The GJEPC said it had closed its head office in Mumbai until March 31, with all employees working from home.

Source: DCLA