How did De Beers lose their monopoly?
How did De Beers lose their monopoly? The De Beers market share began to fall from a peak of almost 90% (See Figure 1.1). Shortly after losing control of the Russian supply, the Argyle Mine in Australia (at the time the largest diamond producing mine in the world by volume) broke away from De Beers because of the cartels inflexibility. How did the De Beers cartel try to maintain control of the price in the diamond market? A huge stockpile helped it to maintain high prices while it successfully peddled the myth that supply was scarce. With its near monopoly...