The diamond industry is divided into two aspects: the gem-grade and the industrial-grade diamonds industry. A large trade of diamonds exist between the two but these two markets act in different ways.

The Gem Diamond Industry: the key players

Huge trade of gem-grade diamonds do exists until now compared to other precious metals such as gold and platinum. Unlike gold and platinum being traded as commodities, gem-grade diamonds cannot do so because of the extensive mark-up in the diamonds' sales and the non-existence of an active market for resale of diamonds.

The diamond's excellent amalgamation is one trademark of the gem-quality diamonds trade: the diamond cutting and wholesale trade that is limited only to a few locations. In 2003, a 92% of diamond pieces were cut in Surat, Gujarat, India. Other renowned centers for diamond cutting and trading are Antwerp, where the International Gemological Institute is located, Tel Aviv, New York, Amsterdam and London. The company, De Beers, has a significant control in the diamonds trade. The said company can be found in London, England, South Africa and Johannesburg.

A few key players control the diamonds' production and distribution and are concerted in the conventional diamond trading centers. Antwerp became the world diamond capital because they handle almost all of the rough, cut and industrial diamonds. New York is where the 80% of diamond sales come from and the company De Beers which is the largest diamond miner in the world.

In the supply chain, the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) is known for wholesale diamond exchange of rough and polished diamonds. Members of the WFDB include the Tel Aviv, Johannesburg, Antwerp and other cities across Asia, USA and Europe. WFDB and The International Diamond Manufacturers Association recognized the World Diamond Council to prevent the use of diamonds for war and other atrocious acts funding.

The Industrial Diamond Industry

In the diamond industry, there exist two markets with different means of doing business. The first one is the gem-grade diamond industry and the second is the industrial-grade diamond industry. The market for gem-grade industry is completely different from the industrial-grade diamonds which operates through using diamonds for various industrial applications.

Industrial-grade diamonds are valued mostly due to the diamond's renowned characteristics such as hardness and heat conductivity, making the gemmological properties like colour and clarity insignificant.

This is the reason why almost 80% of mined diamonds are unsuitable for gemstones (which are also known as borts) are being put for industrial uses. Synthetic diamonds after its discovery in the 1950s found its way in industrial applications; which is now being produced annually at a whopping 3 billion carats (600 metric tons) for industrial purposes. So that's huge money!

Diamonds' Industrial Uses

The dominant use of diamonds in industrial applications is in drilling, cutting, grinding and polishing. The uses of diamonds in these technologies do not need huge diamonds.

For grinding and polishing purposes, diamonds are ground into powder. Diamonds are also embedded in saw blades or drill tips for drilling applications. There are other diamond applications such as special applications which are being use in the laboratories as containment for high pressure experiments, limited use in specialized windows and high performance bearings.

Technological Advantage

Due to the continuing advancement of technologies in the production of synthetic diamonds, various future applications are being seen as possibilities. Some future applications are the possible use of diamonds as semiconductors that can build microchips and use of diamonds as heat sinks in electronics.

The diamond supply chain

When it comes to the control over the supply of diamonds, there exist a limited number of them; most of them are powerful businesses. These huge companies dominate the diamond supply chain and are also highly focused in a mere number of locations around the world.

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