Diamdel Reports Strong Demand at Q3 Tenders

(IDEX Online News) - De Beers' subsidiary Diamdel reported that online tenders for its goods - -3 gr, 3-8 gr and 2-15 carat size ranges - were in strong demand in the third quarter, selling nearly 99 percent of the 238 lots it offered.

Only four lots were not sold because bids did not meet the reserve price. Diamdel recently announced that it would expand its online sales in Israel in reaction to strong demand. It’s not known if tenders in the quarter already included more lots.

Some 157 different companies participated in Diamdel “events” in the quarter, 81 of them were successful bidders, according to Diamdel Director of Sales and Marketing Jonathan Whitney. Of the 81, 25 were first time winners.

“We also saw a rise in the number of participating businesses that seek to purchase a broader range of rough and anticipate continued strong demand for the remainder of the year,” Whitney said.

CEO Neil Ventura said that the strong demand witnessed during the first two quarters of 2010 has been sustained into the third quarter “with no loss of momentum with Belgium and Israel based businesses continuing to demonstrate the strongest demand. We also witnessed the highest levels of repeat participation of the year so far in the third quarter.”

Starting this month, Diamond Trading Company (DTC) Sightholders will be able to take part in Diamdel’s tenders, part of a De Beers pilot program. This is expected to drive demand, as well as prices, even further in the fourth quarter.