Okavango Diamond Company Explains Sales Process at IDE
November 21, 13
 ODC CEO Toby Frears. |
ODC CEO Toby Frears, his deputy Marcus ter Haar, and sales manager Tim Lee, held the meeting with members of the IDE yesterday (Wednesday).
The meeting was held in the presence of IDE President Shmuel Schnitzer, Israel Diamond Institute (IDI) Chairman Moti Ganz, Israel Diamond Manufacturers Association President Bumi Traub, previous IDE President Yair Sahar, president of the Israel Precious Stones and Diamonds Exchange (IPSDE) Shlomo Eshed, members of the presidium and the management of the exchange, and hundreds of members of the IDE.
The ODC has the right this year to sell 12 percent of the rough diamonds produced by Debswana, which is jointly owned by De Beers and the government of Botswana. By the year 2016 ODC is expected to sell 15 percent of Debswana's output. ODC's annual sales are expected to be about $400 million.
Schnitzer told the meeting that he visited Botswana earlier this month where he met Frears and his team, and invited them to Israel to explain the company's activities to IDE members.
Frears gave a review of the company's structure, operation, ownership structure and its position in the production chain, and the sales process for the company's rough diamonds. "We want to create as diverse a customer base as possible, and to offer our clients access to $400 million of rough annually in a broad range of categories. "The process of selling the rough is via auctions. We place great emphasis on transparency and building trust with our customers to meet all their needs. In 2014 we will begin offering customers rough supply contracts," he added, the IDE's website reported.
Sales Manager Tim Lee explained that sales would be made either via spot auctions or a tender type system. ODC will hold 10 sales a year totaling 250,000 carats each.