Group 1
Mohammed Alsubaie
Wadee Alwafi
Fahad Almadhi
Instructor: Yvonne Chen
Course: EC-212-101
Date: 11/15/2016
Evolution of the diamond industry- Changes in Competition and Production
Since the establishment of the diamond industry, significant development has been experienced,
which has changed its outlook significantly. The landscape of the industry that once produced
approximately $13billion of rough stones and $62billion of diamond jewelry has evolved (The
Economist n.p.). The evolution experienced in the industry resulted from the fact that De Beers,
the company that controlled approximately 90% of the diamond supply loosened its hostile
industry domination strategy and paved the way for the emergence of smaller producers. Besides,
the emergence of regulators in Europe and America has also contributed to the evolution of the
industry and the diamonds originating from war-torn zones have reduced. To promote
competition, De Beers agreed to stop buying diamonds from ALROSA, a Russian firm that
extracts an estimated 20% of global diamonds (The Economist n.p.). Currently, De Beers sells
approximately 45% of all rough diamonds, and its production share stands at approximately
40%. The abolishment of De Beers’ monopoly has paved the way for smaller companies to fill
the gap between the large and small companies.
Furthermore, the diamond industry has grown significantly on the production front with
the emergence of new technologies for diamond extraction. Besides, advances in science have
