Marange diamonds boost Israeli firm

 

 

A huge appetite for Marange diamonds has seen a surge in demand for cutting and polishing equipment in India as the country continues to export raw gems.

The development has boosted revenues of Singapore-listed Sarin Technologies, which manufacturers diamond tools.

The demand in diamond cutting and polishing equipment comes amid repeated calls for the country to add value to its precious minerals.

The Israel-based company earned $19,7 million in the first quarter of 2012 indicating a 61% year-on-year increase and a record quarterly earnings.

Sarin cited growing manufacturing needs in India to meet supply from Zimbabwe as one of the key drivers of revenue growth. Net profit increased 137% to $7,8 million in the March-ending quarter.

Revenues from India increased by 77% to $16,5 million, while from Africa they fell 2% to $884 000.
Turnover from Europe declined by 16% to $366 000.

Although the economies in Europe could impair the global economic outlook and in turn Sarins performance, the group is encouraged by the growing markets in China and India for diamond jewelry, Sarin said.

The group expects demand from Asian markets in general, China and India, in particular, to continue to drive diamond jewelry expansion in 2012.

Early this year reports from the Indian city of Surat indicated that an additional 60 000 workers would be required for cutting and polishing rough diamonds from Marange mines.

Unverified government claims suggest Zimbabwe accounts for 25% of worlds industrial diamonds. Dinesh Navadia, president of Surat Diamond Association in February said: The small cutting centres like Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar and Amreli will also get the benefit of increase in employment due to the flow of Zimbabwe diamonds.

Sarin said accelerated Galaxy related sales and services and the expansion in diamond manufacturing capacity in India to meet the increased supply of Zimbabwean rough diamonds, drove demand for Sarins traditional planning systems.

Galaxy is one of the companys range of machinery. Sarins products include diamond grading tools, rough diamond optimisation systems, gemology tools, diamond colour grading and laser marking machines.

Diamonds worth $1,5 billion are projected to be exported to India this year.

Zimbabwe diamonds are cheaper than those from other mining countries and manufacturers in Surat have a win-win situation, said Sanjay Kothari, vice-chairman of Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council early this year.