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Gold/Mining/Energy : SOUTHERNERA (t.SUF) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: VAUGHN who wrote (3490)	5/28/1999 1:28:00 PM
From: PHILLIP FLOTOW	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7235

To all: Here is some news to be aware of: NAMIBIA-DIAMONDS NAMIBIAN PARLIAMENT REJECTS DIAMOND DEREGULATION WINDHOEK May 27 1999 Sapa-AP John Grobler A law that would have challenged the giant De Beers' monopoly in the diamond trade was rejected Thursday by the Namibian Parliament. The proposal to decriminalize and deregulate the sale of rough diamonds in this southwest African country was approved last month by a bipartisan committee. Normally, Parliament accepts recommendations from the committee, but on Wednesday rejected the proposal by 80 percent. Deputy Minister of Mines and Energy Jesaya Nyamu said deregulation would encourage smuggling from neighboring countries. The committee advocated deregulation as a means of creating new jobs and encouraging foreign investment, and appeared to have the support of the Southwest People's Organization, the ruling party. De Beers currently controls most of the world's trade in uncut diamonds through the Central Selling Organization in London and its individual agreements with countries like Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. The agreements provide for stiff fines and imprisonment for selling unpolished or uncut diamonds to anyone but the cartel. Namibia is the world's fifth largest diamond producer, accounting for about 8 percent of the world output. Mining is a crucial foreign exchange earner for Namibia, which became independent from South Africa in 1990. Last year, Russia - another major source of diamonds - and Namibia signed an agreement to cooperate in diamond mining, a deal that was seen as a check on De Beers. The two countries were also reported to be considering joint efforts to cut and market diamonds. [ index by subject - length \| newswire root ] source: anc.org.za processed Fri 28 May 1999 06:03 EDT by Omar C. Jadwat (newswire@bibim.com). And: Tussle over diamonds continues Business Day (Johannesburg) May 27, 1999 By Ilja Graulich Johannesburg - Cutters, dealers are losing out on the selection of gems from which they would normally choose. DE BEERS, the world's biggest diamond producer, has not exported diamonds for more than seven weeks following a dispute over the valuation put on a consignment of rough diamonds. The valuation by De Beers differed from the valuation of the same parcel made by the newly appointed government diamond valuator. Three weeks ago Minerals and Energy Minister Penuell Maduna rapped De Beers and the diamond valuator over the knuckles and suggested the dispute should be resolved by talking to each other. At that stage he also said that he would look at undertaking a full review of the diamond act. However, there is another more pressing problem. Local diamond dealers have started to raise their voices, saying that they are losing out on a spread of world diamonds. Before the dispute, whenever a parcel was exported from SA, diamonds from other mining areas would be sent to SA shores, giving dealers and cutters a variety of quality. This is no longer the case now that De Beers exports from SA have ceased. Although a sight was held two weeks ago, one of the dealers said he was not able to get the quality he wanted. The next sight is due in three weeks. One analyst said that if De Beers could not export diamonds at its book value there was no incentive to import "specials" - gems bigger than 10,8 carats - for the SA market at that price. Despite the impasse, analysts still hope that this year will be better for the diamond market. The Asian financial crisis resulted in a 28% cut in diamond sales through the De Beers-controlled Central Selling Organisation last year. The market will get an indication of how well sales are doing when De Beers releases sales figures for the first six months of this year at the end of June. One Johannesburg analyst also pointed out that the millennium is starting to play a much bigger role than initially anticipated. He said forecasts for America are that all jewellery sales will increase and this would continue throughout next year and would not be a once-off phenomenon towards the end of this year. PHIL