The Beijing Axis Group, an international intermediary and working with Chinese mining companies and natural resource companies, is confident that the extraction industry expects more deals to be concluded between China and Africa in the next two years.
At the presentation during the recently concluded Mining Indaba conference, held in South Africa under the title "China and Africa - Transformation of Business", the founder and managing director of the Beijing Axis group, Kobus van der Warth, said that the level of Chinese investment in the sector Africa's extraction is negligible compared to the extent of the participation of this Asian giant in the affairs of the continent in the years to come.
"The Chinese demonstrate courage, and they have the potential and resources that support their intentions," notes Kobus van der Wart. - China has emerged from a crisis-induced recession in a better, than ever, form and with good prospects for 2010. China's economy, stimulated by public investment, left the financial crisis behind and moved ahead, demonstrating an 8 percent GDP growth in 2009 ".
He also said that China is ready for testing in 2010 and the next stage of its "unabated growth."
The head of Beijing Axis recently noted that, although China's economy is currently vulnerable, by the fourth quarter of this year, its growth is likely to resume.
http://rough-polished.com/ru/analytics/36633.html
Thursday, August 3, 2017
Traditional instruments of jewelry trade in China include mainly retail stores, franchises, television stores and network sales. In the 21st century, the information age, we can see the development of a completely new model of selling jewelry - e-commerce. For China, it is relatively new, because two years ago the success of jewelery trading through the Internet was in great doubt. By 2010, however, many Chinese jewelry companies have already safely acquired their websites with the functions of online stores.
Vice Chairman of the Diamond Federation of Hong Kong Nelson Ho (Nelson Ho) believes that the main advantages of e-commerce for the jewelry industry are:
Lower operating costs
In general, the costs of retail companies can be divided into three parts: transportation costs and delivery, the functioning of the store, advertising and marketing. Delivery costs differ slightly. When creating an online store, you can significantly optimize costs: do without renting / purchasing a room, decorating and preparing for work, exhibition equipment and samples, hiring sellers, airtime costs (in the case of TV trading), etc.
Lower requirements for reserves
As a rule, jewelry companies have a significant need for capital. E-commerce at the same time allows you to manage the minimum inventory volume, because on the site it is enough to publish the image and description of the goods without its physical sample. Thus, online companies do not freeze their capital in stocks and thus gain a great competitive advantage.
A deeper understanding of market needs
With the help of online tools, the jewelry business can get a holistic picture of the behavior of visitors on the website and better understand consumer preferences in a real environment. Daniel Zhang, CFO of Taobao.com, the largest online retailer in China, claims that the number of registered users already exceeds 100 million people and, according to this indicator, they can already compete with the American monster Ebay.
"We get information about the preferences and shopping habits of customers through the data that the statistical tools of the site provide us daily," - Mr. Zhang shares. Agree that 100 million people are able to provide more than a representative sample in various marketing studies. The business can receive prompt feedback on its sales to study the market reaction and introduce timely changes in marketing strategy and tactics, to adapt their products.
http://rough-polished.com/ru/analytics/37052.html
Recently, at a meeting held in Namibia, the Kimberley Process decided not to suspend Zimbabwe's participation in the global diamond trade, despite strong criticism from human rights activists.
Zimbabwe was heavily censured for "open disregard" of international standards in the trade in rough diamonds.
The Kimberley Process decided to adopt the Joint Work Plan proposed by the government of Zimbabwe itself, which will give the country more time to bring everything in line with the main trade standards.
The plan also calls for an independent observer in Zimbabwe who would check the diamonds leaving the area of the Chiadzwa deposit and take care of providing "technical assistance" from the Kimberley Process.
The short-wave radio station Radio Africa interviewed Ian Smillie, a leading expert on conflict diamonds, who expressed his disappointment with the decision taken by the Kimberley Process on Zimbabwe's diamonds.
Rough & Polished correspondent Matthew Nyaungua listened to this show, and an excerpt from the interview is given below.
http://rough-polished.com/ru/analytics/33835.html
Zimbabwe was heavily censured for "open disregard" of international standards in the trade in rough diamonds.
The Kimberley Process decided to adopt the Joint Work Plan proposed by the government of Zimbabwe itself, which will give the country more time to bring everything in line with the main trade standards.
The plan also calls for an independent observer in Zimbabwe who would check the diamonds leaving the area of the Chiadzwa deposit and take care of providing "technical assistance" from the Kimberley Process.
The short-wave radio station Radio Africa interviewed Ian Smillie, a leading expert on conflict diamonds, who expressed his disappointment with the decision taken by the Kimberley Process on Zimbabwe's diamonds.
Rough & Polished correspondent Matthew Nyaungua listened to this show, and an excerpt from the interview is given below.
http://rough-polished.com/ru/analytics/33835.html
A year after the global financial and economic crisis and the subsequent deep recession in the Antwerp World Diamond Center, the emergence of a qualitatively new situational phenomenon generated by the crisis, namely, the so-called "new normal" reality, is noted.
This means a new economic order that has made adjustments to the mindset of buyers, particularly in the United States.
According to experts, the buyer, beaten by the financial crisis, which distinguished the strength and speed of distribution, radically changed the attitude not only to spending, but also revised the way of life. Households are now avoiding "ostentatious" purchases and are carefully considering the need to purchase goods not of prime necessity.
Today, the buyer thinks in the following way: if there is an opportunity to purchase cheaper, it is worth using.
The Western world appears to be entering a period of a "new normal" reality, characterized by a reduction in the debt burden of households, a great desire to accumulate and reduce consumption. This metamorphosis will affect both the US economy and the global economic system as a whole. Experts expect that in the US retail trade volumes, which have a huge infrastructure, will decrease, and commodity producers will bet on the production of more export-oriented products.
http://rough-polished.com/ru/analytics/33986.html
This means a new economic order that has made adjustments to the mindset of buyers, particularly in the United States.
According to experts, the buyer, beaten by the financial crisis, which distinguished the strength and speed of distribution, radically changed the attitude not only to spending, but also revised the way of life. Households are now avoiding "ostentatious" purchases and are carefully considering the need to purchase goods not of prime necessity.
Today, the buyer thinks in the following way: if there is an opportunity to purchase cheaper, it is worth using.
The Western world appears to be entering a period of a "new normal" reality, characterized by a reduction in the debt burden of households, a great desire to accumulate and reduce consumption. This metamorphosis will affect both the US economy and the global economic system as a whole. Experts expect that in the US retail trade volumes, which have a huge infrastructure, will decrease, and commodity producers will bet on the production of more export-oriented products.
http://rough-polished.com/ru/analytics/33986.html
Perhaps the main problem facing the diamond market over the past year is the unprecedented level of debt of the leading mining corporations - De Beers and ALROSA. This is the problem of the market as a whole, since the encumbrance of the mountain giants is reflected in debts not only by their ability to attract loans, but also on the opportunities for developing their own mineral resource base, which is the basis of the world's "diamond pipeline", but also inevitably influences pricing mechanisms On rough diamonds. The volume of these debts, the conditions for their servicing and restructuring can not be ignored in the marketing strategies of companies and significantly influence the formation of the principles of interaction with customers.
The main reasons for the accumulation of debts of De Beers and ALROSA in 2005-2008 are similar in many respects - first of all, the need for investments in the construction and modernization of mines in Canada, Botswana and Western Yakutia. In these "fat" for the diamond industry, the level of such borrowing did not look excessive in the light of favorable price forecasts built on a strategically correct premise about the depletion of known deposits and the lack of discovery of new ones. The crisis fundamentally changed the situation: a sharp drop in demand put the leading diamond mining companies in extremely harsh conditions, the problem of debts came to the forefront.
At the first stage, the anti-crisis strategies of De Beers and ALROSA differed in principle: De Beers practically stopped production and resorted to loans to Anglo American, increasing its already considerable debt; ALROSA did not cut production, but left the market, selling all products to Gokhran. As a result of these actions, the market avoided a catastrophic collapse, the companies retained their production potential, but their balance produces a depressing impression.
By the end of 2009, the companies came up with comparable levels of debt load: $ 3.5 billion from De Beers and $ 3.85 billion from ALROSA. With respect to the Russian company, it can be argued that this figure is a relative success, since as of June 1, 2009, ALROSA's debt exceeded $ 5 billion. Nevertheless, such a level of debts appears to be critical, and the financial position of the leading diamond mining companies is extremely unstable. Given the current difficult labor market situation and the unfavorable forecast for 2010 unemployment dynamics in the countries that are the main consumers of diamond products, a significant reduction in the debt burden solely due to the growth in sales of diamond products seems almost unbelievable.
The need for a radical solution to the debt problem seems to be clearly recognized by both companies, and unlike the original anti-crisis measures, there will likely be more similarity than differences. In early December, it was reported that the management of De Beers is considering the possibility of increasing the company's capitalization by $ 1 billion, which is, respectively, 28% of its debt. Almost simultaneously it became known that the management of ALROSA considers it necessary to transform the company into an open joint-stock company in order to "increase the investment attractiveness of the company, reduce the total amount of debt, improve management efficiency". The connection between a significant reduction in the debt burden and the transformation of ALROSA into an OJSC deserves a separate consideration.
http://rough-polished.com/ru/analytics/34222.html
The main reasons for the accumulation of debts of De Beers and ALROSA in 2005-2008 are similar in many respects - first of all, the need for investments in the construction and modernization of mines in Canada, Botswana and Western Yakutia. In these "fat" for the diamond industry, the level of such borrowing did not look excessive in the light of favorable price forecasts built on a strategically correct premise about the depletion of known deposits and the lack of discovery of new ones. The crisis fundamentally changed the situation: a sharp drop in demand put the leading diamond mining companies in extremely harsh conditions, the problem of debts came to the forefront.
At the first stage, the anti-crisis strategies of De Beers and ALROSA differed in principle: De Beers practically stopped production and resorted to loans to Anglo American, increasing its already considerable debt; ALROSA did not cut production, but left the market, selling all products to Gokhran. As a result of these actions, the market avoided a catastrophic collapse, the companies retained their production potential, but their balance produces a depressing impression.
By the end of 2009, the companies came up with comparable levels of debt load: $ 3.5 billion from De Beers and $ 3.85 billion from ALROSA. With respect to the Russian company, it can be argued that this figure is a relative success, since as of June 1, 2009, ALROSA's debt exceeded $ 5 billion. Nevertheless, such a level of debts appears to be critical, and the financial position of the leading diamond mining companies is extremely unstable. Given the current difficult labor market situation and the unfavorable forecast for 2010 unemployment dynamics in the countries that are the main consumers of diamond products, a significant reduction in the debt burden solely due to the growth in sales of diamond products seems almost unbelievable.
The need for a radical solution to the debt problem seems to be clearly recognized by both companies, and unlike the original anti-crisis measures, there will likely be more similarity than differences. In early December, it was reported that the management of De Beers is considering the possibility of increasing the company's capitalization by $ 1 billion, which is, respectively, 28% of its debt. Almost simultaneously it became known that the management of ALROSA considers it necessary to transform the company into an open joint-stock company in order to "increase the investment attractiveness of the company, reduce the total amount of debt, improve management efficiency". The connection between a significant reduction in the debt burden and the transformation of ALROSA into an OJSC deserves a separate consideration.
http://rough-polished.com/ru/analytics/34222.html
2009 showed that competition between the leading diamond mining companies has become a reality, and this circumstance will mainly determine the further development of the market. The current financial condition of diamond mining companies is such that any attempt at a direct price war can be disastrous for all. Therefore, the main area of competition will be a decrease in the cost of mining diamonds. First of all, this means limiting or completely stopping the exploitation of low-margin deposits. The outlines of this process were outlined in the spring of 2009, when De Beers stopped geological exploration projects in the Congo and abandoned the Verkhotinskoye field (Arkhangelsk region), and ALROSA stopped development of a number of alluvial deposits and the Zarnitsa pipe.
It is likely that in the near future the plans of the leading companies to significantly reduce the intensity of exploitation and even the complete abandonment of unprofitable deposits in the current situation will be further realized. De Beers has already announced a planned shutdown of production at the Namaqualand field (South Africa) in the first quarter of 2010. This strategy also fills De Beers' refusal to invest $ 300 million in the construction of the mine in the AK6 (Botswana) and sell its stake in this project to the Canadian company Lucara in November 2009.
At the same time, De Beers announced the increase in production and the creation of 175 new jobs at the Snap Lake (Canada) field, which uses the most modern technologies to date and the ratio of the average price per carat (now about $ 110) to the cost price (about $ 30) is responsible Current market realities. At the same time, a representative of Debswana (a joint property of De Beers and Botswana) announced the approval of capital expenditures in the amount of $ 539 million for the project "Сut 8", which involves a large-scale reconstruction of the Zhvaneng quarry, whose production cost is even lower than at Snap Lake (about $ 25 / carat ).
http://rough-polished.com/ru/analytics/34437.html
It is likely that in the near future the plans of the leading companies to significantly reduce the intensity of exploitation and even the complete abandonment of unprofitable deposits in the current situation will be further realized. De Beers has already announced a planned shutdown of production at the Namaqualand field (South Africa) in the first quarter of 2010. This strategy also fills De Beers' refusal to invest $ 300 million in the construction of the mine in the AK6 (Botswana) and sell its stake in this project to the Canadian company Lucara in November 2009.
At the same time, De Beers announced the increase in production and the creation of 175 new jobs at the Snap Lake (Canada) field, which uses the most modern technologies to date and the ratio of the average price per carat (now about $ 110) to the cost price (about $ 30) is responsible Current market realities. At the same time, a representative of Debswana (a joint property of De Beers and Botswana) announced the approval of capital expenditures in the amount of $ 539 million for the project "Сut 8", which involves a large-scale reconstruction of the Zhvaneng quarry, whose production cost is even lower than at Snap Lake (about $ 25 / carat ).
http://rough-polished.com/ru/analytics/34437.html
The financial crisis every year presents more and more interesting surprises to the diamond market. Last year, one of the main postulates of this business was almost shaken: diamonds and diamonds began to fall in price, and in fact the diamond is positioned as "eternal value", which does not become cheaper with the years. Now the world economy seems to be starting to recover, but ahead of the industry is another serious test, which it will face for the first time in its history: the diamond market is moving away from artificial regulation and becomes competitive.
One hundred years of monopoly
"The artificial market has developed historically," says Sergei Goryainov, an expert at Rough & Polished, "While large deposits in South Africa were not discovered in the 19th century, diamonds were mined accidentally on placers (for example, in India) and were therefore highly valued. Century it was a very expensive stone, a "stone of kings", inaccessible even to the top of the then "middle class." The most massive stone at that time was opal, the extraction of which was established in Europe. "
After discovering deposits in South Africa, it became apparent that among the precious stones diamonds are not even the rarest, but, on the contrary, the most common stones. People who dealt with this market realized that if they extracted the entire volume of diamonds and brought it to the market, they would immediately drop in price. So the idea of an absolutely artificial market with a monopoly price dictation was born. To do this, it was necessary to do three things: first - to get physical control over diamond deposits; The second is to get rid of competitors inside the industry; And the third is to "clear" the market, to make diamonds attractive for everyone, but at the same time to keep their price.
The "cleaning" of the market was carried out very elegantly: opal was attributed to negative consumer properties - in other words, it was announced that it brings misfortune and causes cholera. From cholera at a time when a few members of the royal family of Spain, who owned collections of opal jewelry, died very "in time". Diamonds and diamonds replaced the "unlucky" opal and became the most popular expensive stones in less than 10 years.
http://rough-polished.com/ru/analytics/34983.html
One hundred years of monopoly
"The artificial market has developed historically," says Sergei Goryainov, an expert at Rough & Polished, "While large deposits in South Africa were not discovered in the 19th century, diamonds were mined accidentally on placers (for example, in India) and were therefore highly valued. Century it was a very expensive stone, a "stone of kings", inaccessible even to the top of the then "middle class." The most massive stone at that time was opal, the extraction of which was established in Europe. "
After discovering deposits in South Africa, it became apparent that among the precious stones diamonds are not even the rarest, but, on the contrary, the most common stones. People who dealt with this market realized that if they extracted the entire volume of diamonds and brought it to the market, they would immediately drop in price. So the idea of an absolutely artificial market with a monopoly price dictation was born. To do this, it was necessary to do three things: first - to get physical control over diamond deposits; The second is to get rid of competitors inside the industry; And the third is to "clear" the market, to make diamonds attractive for everyone, but at the same time to keep their price.
The "cleaning" of the market was carried out very elegantly: opal was attributed to negative consumer properties - in other words, it was announced that it brings misfortune and causes cholera. From cholera at a time when a few members of the royal family of Spain, who owned collections of opal jewelry, died very "in time". Diamonds and diamonds replaced the "unlucky" opal and became the most popular expensive stones in less than 10 years.
http://rough-polished.com/ru/analytics/34983.html
It is estimated that diamond mining in the land area of Namibia will dramatically decrease in 2020 with the depletion of diamond deposits, and this situation now makes the government, albeit slowly, turn its attention to seabed exploration and production organization there.
But given that offshore diamond mining is an expensive venture requiring large investments, the government seems to be focusing more on uranium mining, as this mineral is widely believed to be the future of the Namibian mining industry.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Mining and Energy, Joseph Iita, recently confirmed that the future of Namibia's mining industry could be linked to uranium, as its exploration and production is being intensified in the country.
According to reports, Namibia is going to become the world's third largest producer of uranium by 2015, as the country has one of the world's largest deposits of this mineral.
In 2008, the country became the fourth largest producer of this important raw material after Canada, Kazakhstan and Australia.
Joseph Iita further noted that "globally, the demand for nuclear fuel should significantly increase, as concerns about climate change and the reliability of energy supply lead to the revival of nuclear power plants, increasing the demand for uranium. For several years, prices for uranium have been growing, and the outlook for the uranium market remains positive.
http://rough-polished.com/ru/analytics/35075.html
But given that offshore diamond mining is an expensive venture requiring large investments, the government seems to be focusing more on uranium mining, as this mineral is widely believed to be the future of the Namibian mining industry.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Mining and Energy, Joseph Iita, recently confirmed that the future of Namibia's mining industry could be linked to uranium, as its exploration and production is being intensified in the country.
According to reports, Namibia is going to become the world's third largest producer of uranium by 2015, as the country has one of the world's largest deposits of this mineral.
In 2008, the country became the fourth largest producer of this important raw material after Canada, Kazakhstan and Australia.
Joseph Iita further noted that "globally, the demand for nuclear fuel should significantly increase, as concerns about climate change and the reliability of energy supply lead to the revival of nuclear power plants, increasing the demand for uranium. For several years, prices for uranium have been growing, and the outlook for the uranium market remains positive.
http://rough-polished.com/ru/analytics/35075.html
The season of Christmas sales demonstrated some revival of the jewelry market compared to the disastrous 2008. In the main market - in the US - sales grew at every second retailer, and in the fifth part - by 20%. It looks inspiring, especially against the background of the general results of the year, showing the freezing and declining incomes of 60% of jewelery sellers and frankly sluggish growth among the rest. The Christmas season also showed a rare level of variation in the rates of large retailers: sales of Tiffany & Co., for example, grew by 17%, while Zale Corp., by contrast, fell 12%. This variation, unusual for pre-crisis times, most likely reflects the ability of marketers of companies to respond quickly to changes in demand within the main trend: the bulk of buyers prefer products,
Sales of diamond producers last year decreased by an average of 40% and there is no sign of any significant signals indicating the rapid recovery of this market. The raw material market is a sharp contrast: the total sales of DTC and ALROSA are approaching $ 900 million in January, and taking into account the supplies of other producers, the market will obviously take a billion-dollar line, which is quite comparable to the pre-crisis period.
Do the modest successes of jewelry retailers and the impressive achievements of rough diamond producers reflect a steady trend of restoring markets or are they just a respite before a new protracted peak? In our opinion, the dynamics of such indicator as the "savings rate in US households", which is a direct indicator of the population's readiness to increase consumption, can prompt the answer to this burning question. In the 70s - early 80s of the last century, the savings rate fluctuated around 10%, rising to 12-14% at the time of the well-known economic crises. But from the mid-80s, when the discount rate of the Fed began to decrease steadily and steadily, and the population's demand for goods and services to be spurred on by means of constantly cheaper loans, the saving rate began to decrease steadily.
http://rough-polished.com/ru/analytics/35979.html
Sales of diamond producers last year decreased by an average of 40% and there is no sign of any significant signals indicating the rapid recovery of this market. The raw material market is a sharp contrast: the total sales of DTC and ALROSA are approaching $ 900 million in January, and taking into account the supplies of other producers, the market will obviously take a billion-dollar line, which is quite comparable to the pre-crisis period.
Do the modest successes of jewelry retailers and the impressive achievements of rough diamond producers reflect a steady trend of restoring markets or are they just a respite before a new protracted peak? In our opinion, the dynamics of such indicator as the "savings rate in US households", which is a direct indicator of the population's readiness to increase consumption, can prompt the answer to this burning question. In the 70s - early 80s of the last century, the savings rate fluctuated around 10%, rising to 12-14% at the time of the well-known economic crises. But from the mid-80s, when the discount rate of the Fed began to decrease steadily and steadily, and the population's demand for goods and services to be spurred on by means of constantly cheaper loans, the saving rate began to decrease steadily.
http://rough-polished.com/ru/analytics/35979.html
According to statistics, 80% of employees in the Chinese jewelry industry work for small and medium-sized family enterprises, whose management, as a rule, does not have a good education (in extreme cases in general - education). For example, the correspondent of the Jewelry House (525zb.com) from Shenzhen in the south of China, having communicated with the prominent Chinese brand SunFeel (http://www.sun-feel.com/), found out their point of view that jewelry - It is, first of all, a commodity and it must be sold. They forgot - and forgotten. Therefore, they would prefer to spend a huge amount of money on advertising on central television, than to spend them on improving design developments. This reflects the existing situation in the industry: there is no due attention and respect for the aesthetics of art and the cultural component that translates the works of jewelry designers.
Accordingly, and to the work of Chinese designers attitude is rather disparaging. Often they are regarded as handymen who, between other important matters (such as selling a diamond ring), can still draw, blind or cut something. As a rule, management gives the highest priority to the sale of products, so the profit-making divisions of companies are valued much higher than designers who do not bring money, but only "sit and increase the cost" - as the owner of a small bench of gold jewelry addressed to the recent Shanghai jewelry exhibition Neighbors on the stand, designers.
The desire of some enterprises to translate each employee into a cash equivalent is so great that in the hot season of sales they can even transfer designers from creative positions to sales. Thus, their design work becomes only an auxiliary activity. In addition, it can often be observed that for the creative work the proper conditions are not created: silence and privacy, so necessary for concentration.
http://rough-polished.com/ru/analytics/38765.html
Accordingly, and to the work of Chinese designers attitude is rather disparaging. Often they are regarded as handymen who, between other important matters (such as selling a diamond ring), can still draw, blind or cut something. As a rule, management gives the highest priority to the sale of products, so the profit-making divisions of companies are valued much higher than designers who do not bring money, but only "sit and increase the cost" - as the owner of a small bench of gold jewelry addressed to the recent Shanghai jewelry exhibition Neighbors on the stand, designers.
The desire of some enterprises to translate each employee into a cash equivalent is so great that in the hot season of sales they can even transfer designers from creative positions to sales. Thus, their design work becomes only an auxiliary activity. In addition, it can often be observed that for the creative work the proper conditions are not created: silence and privacy, so necessary for concentration.
http://rough-polished.com/ru/analytics/38765.html
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