DB’s E6 Opens Industrial Synthetic Diamond Factory in China

De Beers’ industrial synthetic diamond maker Element Six (E6) opened a Chinese factory in April. The factory in the Suzhou Industrial Estate (SIP) is the first E6 manufacturing site in Asia. It will produce a specialized type of synthetic diamond for internal use in the manufacturing of polycrystalline products.

The company said in a release that total planned investment in Suzhou amounts to $25 million and will gradually be expanded to add a total of around 300 million carats of synthetic diamond to the annual E6 synthesis capacity.

E6 is a supplier of industrial diamond and the complementary cubic boron nitride (cBN) abrasive materials. These materials are available both in their single crystal and polycrystalline forms, for abrasive and non-abrasive industrial uses. The E6 Abrasives group of companies operates internationally with processing and manufacturing facilities in South Africa, Sweden, Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands, and Ukraine.

E6 CEO Christian Hultner said that, "Our factory in Suzhou employs exclusively Chinese technology in industrial diamond synthesis. Employing Asian technology in China combined with Western technology in South Africa and Sweden ensures the position of Element Six as the leading producer of industrial synthetic diamond in the world.”

The SIP is a modern industrial park East of Suzhou and was formed as a joint venture between the Governments of China and Singapore in 1994.