Hello James
I suspect there's another factor in DB's apparent strategy to expedite development of SL, KL and Victor. As the principal wholesaler of none Canadian goods, up until now, DB's has been insistent that diamonds, sourced from no matter what country, be marketed simply under a one-commodity (diamonds) persona.
For 100 years, that strategy has supported prices across the board and thus been good for business, however, as another poster (I believe Frank) documented last week, Canadian goods are increasingly receiving a premium in the marketplace, as certified none-conflict stones. Further, apparently Ekati & Diavik stones have preferable shape for cutting, producing lower cutting losses, thus yielding higher profits.
Thus apparently cutters and retail buyers have been increasingly willing to pay a premium for Canadian goods, which leaves DB's as the principal wholesaler of goods that are not receiving a premium.
Consequently, DB's efforts would seemingly support a floor price for diamonds, but Canadian wholesalers (BHP, Diavik, et all) are the beneficiaries. Using DB's base they can mark up Canadian production apparently by roughly 30% over DB's site stone range prices, and take the cream off the top so to speak.
DB's quite reasonably would want a significant piece of that action and once in substantial Canadian production, they will presumably once again be in the position to both set the price and reap a significant percentage of the rewards.
Just a thought.
Vaughn |
