The European Commission's Antitrust Authority has approved global diamond monopoly De Beers' new strategic plan. Israeli diamond merchants noted that implementation of the plan was expected to cause a revolution in the global diamond trade. They said it was slated to halve the company's regular customer list of about 120 site owners, including about 35 in Israel.
The global industry is expected to go from basing its relationships on per-month contracts to six-month to two-year contracts, which will require restructuring in the finance, production and marketing areas.
The De Beers strategic plan is based on two-year contracts in which diamond merchants will prepare marketing plans for periods no shorter than six months, on the basis of which they will ask for rough diamonds from De Beers. De Beers will attempt to meet those demands in order to maintain its status as their central supplier.
