The International Diamond Manufacturers Association president has issued a call to diamond industry players of all stripes, urging them to discuss the financing of their trade. IDMA president Maxim Shkadov addressed the global diamond community in a letter, informing constituents that he would raise the issue of financing to the top of the organization's agenda during his term in office.

In his letter, Shkadov compared the diamond industry to the human body and financial exchange to the flow of blood, saying that the body of the diamond industry has fallen ill. As an example, he noted that bankers in India lent money to some diamond companies who in turn, instead of using them to fund purchases of rough diamonds necessary for their businesses, used them to speculate on diamond prices.

Shkadov blamed these activities for jacking up the market price for rough diamonds, creating difficulties for diamond manufacturers. He appealed to industry players to think of the trade's long-term health, and not only their own short-term profits, warning that if his message was not heeded the results could ultimately be fatal for the industry.