Israeli diamond cutters to expand direct imports of raw diamonds

De Beers is allocating fewer diamonds to Israel. Israel Diamond Exchange president Shmuel Schnitzer: Direct diamond imports will total hundreds of millions of dollars.

Sources inform “Globes” that Israel Diamond Exchange management yesterday made an immediate and urgent decision yesterday to conduct negotiations for importing diamonds into Israel, through channels other than the De Beers diamond syndicate and brokers.

Israel Diamond Exchange president Shmuel Schnitzer yesterday confirmed the plan to “Globes”, saying, “The De Beers syndicate supplies Israeli diamond merchants with just over 20% of the raw diamonds they need. Diamond Exchange management has therefore decided to find additional sources to supply raw diamonds.”

Diamonds imported directly to Israel will cost much less than those bought through brokers, who are needed because of the low quotas assigned by the syndicate.

Schnitzer predicted that the volume of raw diamond reaching Israel through channels other than the syndicate would amount to several hundred million dollars annually.

De Beers currently controls 55% of the world’s raw diamonds, amounting to $3-4 billion per year, of which $1 billion is supplied to Israel.

Published by Globes [online] -l www.globes.co.il - on July 22, 2003

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