Thursday, September 29, 2011

De Beers’ output to peak by 2012




Diamond producer De Beers, which had cut production in 2008 and 2009 in the wake of the global recession, has begun to ramp up production and expects to reach its full production level of about 40 million carats in 2012.

Production in the first half of this year was almost stagnant, but the company started to scale up from the latter half, as global demand for rough diamonds is seen as rebounding.

“We expect to produce about 35 million carats this year (2011), as against 25 million carats in 2009. By 2012 we expect to touch our full production level,” said Mr Stephen Lussier, CEO of Forevermark, the global diamond brand from De Beers Group.

The more recent economic crisis in the US had not impacted diamond sales, while growth in Europe was weaker, he told media persons here on Thursday.

He was in the city to launch of the Forevermark brand of diamonds, tying up with local jewellers.

“We see the Indian and Chinese diamond markets together to grow to a size of one third of the world market in the next 4-5 years,” he said.

Digital marketing focus:

Mr Lussier said the company will be focussing on digital marketing for Forevermark brand in India. “Next week, we plan to launch a digital campaign involving virtual try-on. Consumers can try out different Forevermark diamonds virtually sitting before their computer with a Web cam. Diamond jewellery is a unique branding business,” he pointed out.

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