Dispute Over Where Zimbabwe Diamonds Fetch More

via Dispute Over Where Zimbabwe Diamonds Fetch More 11.05.14

Now that rough diamonds mined in Zimbabwe‘s Marange region can be legally sold in Europe, the question of where they should be sold in order to achieve the highest prices is a matter of dispute, Rough and Polished reports. Since the European Union removed the names of Zimbabwe officials from its list of banned trading partners, rough stones unearthed in the country have been brought to tender in the United Arab Emirates and Belgium.

Of the almost 400,000 carats of Zimbabwe diamonds sold in Dubai, the average per-carat sale price was $76. The numbers from the most recent sale of Marange diamonds in Antwerp, however, are disputed. Harare claims that the per-carat price in Antwerp was $72, while the Antwerp World Diamond Center claims that the per-carat price was actually just a few cents short of $80.

AWDC chief executive Ari Epstein implied that the per-carat price achieved in Antwerp could rise even higher, because some of the stones brought to tender there were not sufficiently cleaned, while those brought to tender in Dubai were, according to Rough and Polished.

 

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