DIAMDAX — the Diamond Dealers Automated Exchange — has
launched in Antwerp. It is described by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC)
as “the world’s first online certified diamond exchange to offer continuous
electronic auctions for buyers and sellers to trade individual polished diamond
categories based on real-time, tradable spot prices.”
The big asset of that “Antwerp spot price” and the resulting
transparency is that hopefully, it will attract new investors to the market
because they will be able to closely and continuously monitor the value of
their diamond portfolios using the current spot market prices. Drawing
investment capital into the industry would be a welcome new source of financing
after the financial turmoil and credit crunch of the past few years.
WAIT AND SEE
Varda Shine, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Diamond
Trading Company (DTC), who attended the launch, applauded it as “a good
endeavor because it’s going to add further transparency to the industry and to
the market. Of course, there have been and there are many electronic platforms
around the world, but what’s new in the DIAMDAX platform is that it’s neither
local, nor national nor limited to the customers of one given company. It’s a
BtoB platform, but with the advantage of transparency and global reach.”
Shine explained further that this project and the Antwerp
diamond industry’s 2020 Master Plan are among the tools that are rejuvenating
the city as a diamond center. “We’ll see in six to twelve months from now how
the platform is performing,” Shine said. “But it’s obvious now that, in
addition to its skilled people, its financial stability and its geographic
location, one of the most important assets Antwerp has to rely on is its
leadership.”
Not eager to comment too early on the future of the
just-opened exchange, Chaim Pluczenik of Pluczenik Diamonds said, “It’ll be at
least one year before we’re able to get
a real sense of the success or failure of the project.”
ACADEMIES UNDERWAY
The launch coincided with the first of the Antwerp Diamond
Academies, a series of one-day educational workshops that are part of AWDC’s
long-range Antwerp Diamond Master Plan. Pierre De Bosscher, chief executive
officer (CEO) of the Antwerp Diamond Bank (ADB), called the academies in
general “a bright and wonderful idea, something that hopefully will be repeated
in the future. It also brings the Antwerp diamond industry into the bigger
picture of the entire Antwerp community. We were very closed off in the past
and now it is time to show what Antwerp can do for Flanders and for the
country.”
The keynote speaker brought in for the workshop luncheon —
which was opened to local business people from other industries, along with
university students — was British business tycoon Richard Branson, founder of
Virgin Records and Virgin Atlantic. (For a Rapaport Magazine interview with
Branson, see page 76.)
LEARNING NEW MEDIA
The first academy workshops covered such topics as “Social
Media: Diamond in the Rough or Not?” “IT Solutions: Adding Value to Your
Precious Time,” “The Diamond Trader on the Road: Optimize Your Time” and “Why
Get Rid of Paper and How?” In the social media workshop, a representative of
the Intracto Internet Group, a digital agency, explained how to maximize profit
when advertising online. The speaker emphasized that the first thing to know is
that the Google AdWords search engine share represents 98 percent of the
Belgian market and 92 percent of the worldwide market. So a company that wants
its website displayed when consumers are using online search engines is going
to have to deal with Google if it wants to promote its name and products and do
business on the internet. The speaker proceeded to explain how to use
text-based ads and how to limit the choice of the words to gain efficiency and
lower costs in a pay-per-click (PPC) environment.
Ari Epstein, CEO of AWDC, was “very pleased with the
workshops, because they’re dealing with such practical advice as how to make
sure your ad comes out on top when potential visitors place a request in a
search engine.”
With its new exchange and the academy workshops, the
leadership of the Antwerp diamond community is focusing on the real challenges
of tomorrow. Whether it’s going to succeed or not is another story, because
nobody masters and controls the future. The AWDC has the means and the
financial muscle to create its master plan, but it will be up to the diamond
community members to make it happen.
THE MARKETPLACE
Polished
- Across the board, fancy shapes are moving much better than
in the past. One reason offered is that they are priced lower than rounds.
- Demand is very strong for square fancy shapes and they are
very difficult to find. One explanation is that it’s more profitable to cut round
shapes than square shapes out of the same rough.
- Rounds in G-H, VS-SI1 are most in demand, but the overall
market appears to be a little softer.
- Piqué goods are moving very well in round and fancy
shapes, especially in the U.S. market.
Rough
- Speculation seems to have stopped and prices appear to be
stabilizing. Recent activity was slow, probably because of the holiday season
in India.
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - June 2012. To subscribe click here.