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London--Not revealing names yet, the Diamond Trading Company announced that the new list has 72 companies and 112 sights, meaning that a growing number of firms will have more than one sight.

The DTC made a round of calls today to notify applicants whether they made the cut and are on the coveted DTC Sightholders list.

The company announced the provisional qualification of 72 sightholders for the upcoming Supplier of Choice (SoC) contract period, which begins on 31 March 2012 and runs to 30 March 2015.

As part of the provisional list, 66 applicants have qualified for supply in London (unchanged), 10 in South Africa (currently 13), 21 in Botswana (+5), 13 in Namibia (+3) and two in respect of Canadian goods (+1).

The growing decentralization of sights, moving from London to producing countries, is clear from the list above. De Beers has committed to supplying a larger percentage of its production to local manufacturing in Botswana, for example.

All applicants for sightholder contracts were assessed based on the information they provided in their Contract Proposal Questionnaire (CPQ). The relative score for each CPQ, combined with the DTC’s forecast availability in each category of rough diamonds, is used to determine the level of supply offered.

For unsuccessful applicants, this is not the end of the road. They could qualify for a SoC contract based on their rough diamond purchasing at the Diamdel auctions.

Based on demonstrating strong demand for a particular category of goods, they may be invited to apply for a sightholder supply contract, subject to the DTC’s forecast availability.

“With a growing gap between rough diamond demand and supply globally, the key to growth during this ‘Diamond Decade’ is adding value, which is at the core of the Supplier of Choice strategy," said DTC CEO Varda Shine.

"The sightholders who have qualified for the 2012-2015 contract period have demonstrated their strong capabilities in this area,” she added.

According to Group CEO Philippe Mellier, “The success of the DTC is measured by its partnerships with producer countries and with its sightholders. Competition for supply has been very intense, and the qualifying applicants represent a world-class set of diamantaires who are well placed to add value to the diamonds we sell.”

Prior to confirming the offer of a DTC supply contract, all newly qualified applicants will have their CPQ’s verified by a third party and, at the DTC’s discretion, returning sightholders’ CPQs may also be verified.

This story was first published on IDEX Online on Dec. 19.