The Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE), a subsidiary of DMCC, facilitated three separate tenders that were issued by Rappaport, Stargems and Trans Atlantic Gem Sales (TAGS). On offer were both rough and polished diamonds.
"It has been a challenging year for the diamond industry overall. However, the success of these tenders shows that there remains healthy demand for rough diamonds if the quality and price on offer are right," said DMCC Executive Chairman and CEO, Ahmed Bin Sulayem.
The DDE is currently under renovation, but this has had no impact on its business operations, with tenders regularly taking place during this period. Once complete, it will be one of the biggest tender floors in the world with up to 40 tables, fully secured with cameras and specialist lighting for buyers to examine diamonds and precious stones. The newly refurbished facility will be unveiled ahead of DMCC's flagship Dubai Diamond Conference, taking place at Almas Tower on 26 September 2019.
Anthony Peter, the owner of TAGS said: "This week, we welcomed more than 75 companies and generated sales of around USD 20 million. We remain very optimistic about the long-term future of the industry and are confident that more growth lies ahead, and this will be greatly assisted by the upgraded state-of-the-art facility that will be unveiled soon."
Shailesh Javeri, Chairman of the Stargems Group added: "We have hosted several tenders at the Dubai Diamond Exchange in the past, all of which have been successful. This one was no exception and we were thrilled to welcome more than 300 buyers from 135 companies who bought diamonds worth $33 million."
In 1997, diamond trading in Dubai was virtually non-existent, but by 2003 trade in rough and polished stones had increased to $3.6 billion and by 2018 it had risen to $25 billion.