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Wall Street Journal
22-05-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Tariffs Caught the World's Biggest PC Maker by Surprise
Lenovo laptops for sale in Hong Kong. China is the company's main manufacturing base. (Lam Yik/Bloomberg News)
Toronto Sun
13-05-2025
- Business
- Toronto Sun
De Beers secretly sells discounted diamonds to selected traders
The secret deals appear aimed at reducing De Beers's ballooning inventories without openly cutting prices Published May 13, 2025 • 3 minute read A De Beers jewelry store in Hong Kong. Photo by Lam Yik / Photographer: Lam Yik/Bloomberg De Beers has been quietly selling rough diamonds at sharply marked-down prices to a small handful of customers, in a highly unusual move that's fueling tensions across an industry already mired in crisis. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The secret deals appear aimed at reducing De Beers's ballooning inventories without openly cutting prices — something the company typically tries to avoid, but which has led to a big gap between its official pricing and valuations in the wider diamond market. De Beers usually holds 10 sales in Botswana each year for its roughly 70 registered buyers, where prices are non-negotiable. In recent months, De Beers has sold hundreds of millions of dollars of rough diamonds through side deals with a small number of its customers, according to buyers who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The company has been selling the stones at a 10% to 20% discount to its set prices, the people said. Rumors about the sales are adding to tensions among De Beers's buyers who weren't selected for the special deals, and are still expected to pay the company's official rate at its set-piece sales. The deals show the dilemma De Beers faces as it comes under pressure from owner Anglo American Plc to boost sales, while it's also seeking to support the global market by avoiding across-the-board price cuts. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The almost unprecedented move by De Beers comes at a pivotal time for the company that invented the modern diamond industry. The diamond market has finally started showing signs of stabilizing after a prolonged demand crisis that sent global prices plunging, although President Donald Trump's trade war has created fresh turmoil, with the diamond industry scrambling to avoid proposed levies. De Beers itself is under pressure from Anglo to reduce costs and stem losses. The larger miner is seeking to sell the diamond business as part of its own turnaround strategy announced last year. While a sale may take some time, De Beers's management is under strict instructions to stop building stockpiles of unsold stones. De Beers has also been drastically cutting costs, including shuttering its lab-grown Lightbox unit last week. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. A spokesperson for De Beers declined to comment. De Beers wields considerable power in the rough-diamond market because of its role as the biggest supplier of new diamonds. At its normal sales, De Beers sets the prices and tells its customers – known in the industry as 'sightholders' — how much they are expected to purchase. While buyers can refuse, doing so can jeopardize their access to supplies in the future. De Beers typically tries to avoid price cuts because its outsize influence means such a move can have a devastating impact on sentiment. Recent signs that the market is starting to recover mean that now would be a particularly bad time to officially lower prices. But the situation has grown increasingly fraught over the past year, as De Beers's reluctance to make significant cuts has left its official rates far higher than plunging valuations in the wider market. Bloomberg reported previously that many of its customers had stopped buying, and some had stopped showing up at the sales at all. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Adding to the tensions, De Beers told its clients late last year that it's likely to reduce their number in 2026. Now, buyers who haven't been tapped for discounted deals are complaining there's a lack of transparency about which customers have been selected and why. Some customers also risk being undercut by rivals when it comes to selling polished stones to retailers. The unusual move by De Beers comes as the battered diamond market grapples with the implications of Trump's import tariffs. The US is the world's biggest diamond market but doesn't mine any gems itself. Roughly 90% of diamonds are manufactured in India's giant cutting and polishing centers. All diamond imports to the US are currently subject to a 10% tariff, and face further levies when the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs comes to an end. Traders have already poured large volumes of stones into the US market to get ahead of tariffs, but fear a slump in demand if US consumers are forced to pay more because of the levies. Purchases have slowed as companies responsible for cutting and polishing worry about being stuck with inventory that is no longer profitable to sell to the US. The industry is lobbying for an exemption from tariffs. Toronto Maple Leafs Editorials Sunshine Girls Ontario Relationships
Boston Globe
06-02-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Flights into Reagan National Airport being reduced in wake of crash
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Enter Email Sign Up POLICY Advertisement House lawmakers push to ban AI app DeepSeek from US government devices The DeepSeek application arranged on a smartphone in Hong Kong on Jan. 27. Lam Yik/Bloomberg A bipartisan duo in the the US House is proposing legislation to ban the Chinese artificial intelligence app DeepSeek from federal devices, similar to the policy already in place for the popular social media platform TikTok. Representatives Josh Gottheimer, Democrat of New Jersey, and Darin LaHood, Republican of Illinois, on Thursday introduced the 'No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act,' which would ban federal employees from using the Chinese AI app on government-owned electronics. They cited the Chinese government's ability to use the app for surveillance and misinformation as reasons to keep it away from federal networks. 'The Chinese Communist Party has made it abundantly clear that it will exploit any tool at its disposal to undermine our national security, spew harmful disinformation, and collect data on Americans,' Gottheimer said in a statement. 'We simply can't risk the CCP infiltrating the devices of our government officials and jeopardizing our national security.' The proposal comes after the Chinese software company in December published an AI model that performed at a competitive level with models developed by American firms like OpenAI, Meta, Alphabet and others. — ASSOCIATED PRESS Advertisement DEALS Environmental services firm Triumvirate sold in $1.8 billion deal Triumvirate Environmental has been sold in a deal that values the company at $1.8 billion. Photo courtesy of Triumvirate The founder of Triumvirate Environmental has reached a deal to sell a controlling stake to a local private equity firm, valuing the Somerville-based waste disposal business at $1.8 billion. Chief executive John McQuillan will remain in charge at Triumvirate, which specializes in removing waste from life sciences labs and manufacturing plants, under the new ownership of Boston-based Berkshire Partners. McQuillan, in a press release, said the transaction will provide funds to help the company expand into new regions, add new service lines, and enhance its technology. The companies did not disclose how much money Berkshire paid for the controlling stake. 'It was clear Berkshire was the right partner for us given their long history of helping market leaders accelerate growth and their constructive, supportive approach with management teams,' McQuillan said. McQuillan will remain chairman of Triumvirate's board of directors. He'll be joined on the board by Al Kelly, the former chief executive of Visa, and John Ferraro, former global chief operating officer at Ernst & Young. McQuillan founded the company in 1988, and it currently generates around $500 million in revenue a year. As part of the deal, Berkshire is establishing an employee ownership program. Berkshire managing director Mike Ascione said the 1,600 employees at Triumvirate 'already think and act like owners ... and this new program aims to reward them accordingly.' — JON CHESTO INDUSTRY Honeywell, one of the few remaining US industrial conglomerates, will split into three companies A Honeywell facility in Phoenix, Ariz. Caitlin O'Hara/Bloomberg Honeywell, one of the last remaining US industrial conglomerates, will split into three independent companies, following in the footsteps of manufacturing giants like General Electric and Alcoa. The company said Thursday that it will separate from its automation and aerospace technologies businesses. Including plans announced earlier to spin off its advanced materials business, Honeywell will consist of three smaller entities in hopes that they will each be more agile. 'The formation of three independent, industry-leading companies builds on the powerful foundation we have created, positioning each to pursue tailored growth strategies, and unlock significant value for shareholders and customers,' Honeywell Chairman and CEO Vimal Kapur said in a statement. Honeywell had said in December that it was considering spinning off its aerospace division. The public announcement arrived about one month after Elliott Investment Management revealed a stake of more than $5 billion in the aerospace, automation and materials company. Elliott had been pushing for the Charlotte, North Carolina, company to separate its automation and aerospace businesses. — ASSOCIATED PRESS Advertisement ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE OpenAI looks across US for sites to build its Trump-backed Stargate AI data centers The OpenAI logo on a smartphone arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Jan. 12, 2023. Gabby Jones/Bloomberg OpenAI is scouring the US for sites to build a network of huge data centers to power its artificial intelligence technology, expanding beyond a flagship Texas location and looking across 16 states to accelerate the Stargate project championed by President Trump. The maker of ChatGPT put out a request for proposals and began visiting locations in Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin this week. Trump touted Stargate, a newly formed joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle, and Softbank, shortly after returning to the White House last month. The partnership said it is investing $100 billion — and eventually up to $500 billion — to build large-scale data centers and the energy generation needed to further AI development. Trump called the project a 'resounding declaration of confidence in America's potential' under his new administration, though the first project in Abilene, Texas, has been under construction for months. — ASSOCIATED PRESS Advertisement BRANDING Boy Scouts see a small membership uptick after rebrand to Scouting America Roger Krone, chief executive officer of Scouting America, described the design of the organization's flag in Irving, Texas, on Feb. 5. LM Otero/Associated Press A historic rebrand of the Boy Scouts of America has been followed by a small uptick in young people joining what will now be called Scouting America, a welcoming sign as the organization tries to move past scandal and bankruptcy. The group will continue leaning into a broad message of inclusivity as it celebrates its 115th birthday Saturday, President and CEO Roger Krone said. He acknowledged some backlash to the rebrand after it was announced last year but described the overall response as a positive one that generated wider interest. 'The fact that we were going with a more kind of gender-neutral name, a lot of people kind of wanted to know more about it,' Krone said. Although the overall gain in membership was small — about 16,000 new scouts, up less than 2 percent from the prior year — it is still encouraging for the organization after participation plummeted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization, which began allowing girls to join its scouting programs in 2018, has just over 1 million members. — ASSOCIATED PRESS ENTERTAINMENT Sony bid to take 'Jeopardy!' rights from CBS is halted by court Cars enter and depart from Sony Pictures Entertainment studio lot in Culver City, Calif., on Dec. 18, 2014. Damian Dovarganes Sony Pictures Television's bid to take over distribution rights to 'Jeopardy!' and 'Wheel of Fortune' from CBS was temporarily halted by a California state court. Paramount Global's CBS has long distributed the Sony-made shows to local TV stations. The media division of Sony Group Corp. sued last year, claiming CBS wasn't honoring their contract and has failed to maximize revenue from the programs, the two most-popular TV game shows. 'The court's order has no bearing on, and is not indicative of, the eventual outcome of the ongoing litigation,' Sony said Thursday in a statement, adding the company 'will continue to fight CBS's egregious mishandling of these beloved shows and will take all necessary legal actions to protect our rights.' In its own statement, CBS said: 'We're pleased the court issued a temporary restraining order against Sony's unlawful actions. We will continue to seamlessly distribute 'Wheel of Fortune' and 'Jeopardy!' to our station clients like we have for over 40 years.' — BLOOMBERG NEWS Advertisement
