Gaborone: Rough diamond sights held by De Beers and Alrosa in October were relatively small, particularly in light of the De Beers Sights held this year that have been in excess of $700 million.

The Sight reflected the fact that Indian diamond manufacturers will be closing down for at least three weeks from around October 20, while some plants will close down for four weeks. Consequently, some Indian manufacturers decided to defer their boxes until the next Sight in November.

In addition, the announcement by Belgian financial group KBC that it will be winding down the operations of the Antwerp Diamond Bank (ADB), meaning loans will have to be paid off in a fairly short space of time is leading to concerns in the market regarding financing. That is compounded by reports that Standard Chartered Bank and ABN Amro are looking to reduce their exposure to the diamond industry

There was low demand for goods, especially large expensive goods, and many boxes were traded below cost price, according to Bluedax.com.

“The general feeling in the secondary market is that prices should and will go down due to increasing liquidity problems and low profitably after manufacturing,” Bluedax said.

There have also been many cases of late payment in the secondary market for rough that was bought several months ago, the firm commented.

Meanwhile, Mike Aggett Managing Director of H. Goldie and Co said, “Total goods sold this month are believed to be in the region $465 million, which included a range of Ex Plan material. Prices broadly remain unchanged with small reductions in certain boxes in the Fine, Commercial High and Rejection areas of between 1- 4 percent. Adjustments where applicable appear to be targeted to specific boxes maintaining the De Beers policy of continuous fine tuning to reflect market movements.