De Beers Group has unveiled its new Origins strategy, a comprehensive five-year plan designed to enhance value across its operations, from mining to retail. The strategy focuses on streamlining the business and concentrating investments on high-return projects in core upstream assets, midstream technologies, natural diamond retail, and synthetic diamond technology solutions.
Driving Sustainable Growth
With the natural diamond market recovering, De Beers aims to leverage its premier mining assets, iconic retail brands, and proven consumer appeal. This approach is intended to drive sustainable growth amid declining global diamond production and strong demand fundamentals.
Leadership Insights
Al Cook, CEO of De Beers Group, emphasized the strategy’s goal of transforming De Beers into a streamlined, technologically advanced, and luxury retail powerhouse. He noted the promising outlook for natural diamonds due to declining global supply and the increasing consumer differentiation between natural and lab-grown diamonds.
Streamlining Operations
De Beers expects to achieve over $100 million in sustainable annual cost savings through reorganization and targeted capital spending. Additional savings will be realized by disposing of non-diamond assets, deferring non-core projects, and selling non-strategic equity holdings.
Focused Upstream Investments
De Beers’ competitive portfolio of mining assets, with significant production capacity and reserves, positions it well as global natural diamond production declines and G7 sanctions impact Russian diamond flows. The company will focus upstream investments on high-return projects such as the Venetia Underground in South Africa and the Jwaneng Underground in Botswana, while exploring future projects in Namibia and Canada. Exploration will be refocused on Angola, regarded as the most prospective region globally.
Integrating Midstream
De Beers plans to revolutionize the midstream segment through its digital portfolio, enhancing efficiency, reducing working capital, and lowering rough diamond inventory levels. The company’s Tracr technology will play a pivotal role, offering valuable data for new diamond import regulations in G7 countries and enhancing consumer confidence by linking diamonds to their source.
Resetting Downstream
To rejuvenate demand for natural diamonds, De Beers will introduce new marketing strategies targeting modern consumers. Key to this effort are collaborations with retailers, as demonstrated by the successful Seize the Day campaign involving over 22,000 retail stores. This year, De Beers will expand strategic relationships with major retailers like Signet Jewelers in the U.S. and Chow Tai Fook in China. Additionally, the company will scale its luxury De Beers Jewellers brand globally and refocus its Forevermark brand on the growing Indian market. To support this initiative, De Beers will introduce a new retail-facing diamond verification instrument, bringing its leading lab-grown diamond detection technology to retail counters.
Pivoting Synthetics
De Beers’ Element Six business, a global leader in synthetic diamond development for industrial purposes, will shift its focus from lab-grown diamonds for jewelry to industrial applications, leveraging its expertise in synthetic diamond technology.
The Origins strategy represents a transformative plan to streamline De Beers’ operations, focus on high-return investments, and drive sustainable growth. This comprehensive approach aims to enhance the value and desirability of natural diamonds for modern consumers, positioning De Beers as a leader in the diamond industry for the future.
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