NDTC nixes possibility of rough diamond auctions

Brent Eiseb, the new CEO of the  Namibia Diamond Trading Company (NDTC) has made it crystal clear that under his watch, the NTDC will not hold any tenders or auctions of its rough diamond stocks.  

In an interview with the Windhoek Observer, he stated that the NDTC will distribute its rough through a Sight system. " This Sight System is premised on NDTC entering into long-term supply contracts typically 3-5 years with its customers. In addition to this, NDTC provides its sight holders with the ability to plan the delivery of its allocation over a 12-month period. We believe that this, coupled with the regularity of supply, enhances the planning capabilities of the NDTC sight holders thus improving supply chain efficiencies while giving them a longer planning horizon," NDTC CEO, Brent Eiseb told the Windhoek Observer.

"One must also take into consideration that NDTC sight holders have and continue to invest in infrastructure and technology in order to improve the sustainability of their Namibian factories and it is therefore important that the rough diamond supply is not only regular but is over a longer period. On this basis, it is clear that the current rough distribution model is aligned to and fully supportive of NDTC's mandate of facilitating downstream beneficiation in Namibia and as such there is no intention to move away from this," he said.

The NDTC, a 50:50 joint venture between the government of Namibia and De Beers, currently sells its diamonds directly to local sight holders, the Namibian diamond cutting and polishing industry, in line with the ten-year Namibian Sorting, Valuing, Sales and Marketing Agreement that was signed in May 2016.