An antitrust case in the diamond industry: The United States v. the De Beers cartel (1948)

Figures & data

Table 1. Movements of all diamonds in US between June 1942 and December 1944.^a

	Trade carats	Government carats	Total carats
Stocks at 30 June 1942
Boart and powder	7,743,000	865,000	8,608,000
Other	3,566,000	422,000	3,988,000
Total	11,309,000	1,287,000	12,596,000
Shipments from UK and Canada
Boart and powder	21,593,000	4,500,000	26,093,000
Other	6,055,000	–	6,055,000
Total	27,648,000	4,500,000	32,148,000
Stocks at 30 September 1944
Boart and powder	5,036,000	5,365,000	10,401,000
Other	5,498,000	768,000	6,266,000
Total	10,534,000	6,133,000	16,667,000

^a AGR, Sibéka 2027, Note from A.H. Lee to Firmin Van Brée, 13 February 1945.

Table 2. List of the corporate defendants in the antitrust case US v. De Beers et al.^a

Firm	Foundation date	Location	Additional information
De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd	1888	36 Stockdale Street, Kimberley, Cape of Good Hope, Union of South Africa
Diamond Corporation Ltd	1930	Principal office: Kimberley, Cape of Good Hope, Union of South Africa	De Beers owns 80% of its outstanding stock, and the remaining 20% is owned by Consolidated Diamond Mines of South West Africa Ltd
Diamond Trading Company Ltd	1934	Principal office and place of business in London, England, and an office and place of business in Kimberley, Cape of Good Hope, Union of South Africa	De Beers and Diamond Corporation each own 50% of its stock
Société Générale de Belgique	1903	Brussels, Belgium	It owns 77% of the 40,000 outstanding shares of the corporation designated below as Bécéka, and owns stock in Forminière and Diamang
Bécéka (Société Minière du Bécéka)	1919	Belgian Congo
Forminière (Société Internationale Forestière et Minière du Congo)	1906	Tshikapa, Belgian Congo
Diamang	1917	Lisbon, Portugal
Consolidated African Selection Trust Ltd	1924	United Kingdom, producer of diamonds in the Gold Coast
Sierra Leone Selection Trust Ltd	1934	United Kingdom	Wholly owned subsidiary of Consolidated Selection

^a AGR, Sibéka 2028, October term, 1944, Summons filed 29 January 1945, ‘In the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York, United States of America, plaintiff, v. De Beers, et al.…, defendants. Complaint’, pp. 2–4.

Table 3. Purchases of equipment and tools made by, or for, Forminière in the US and any other countries.^a

Year	Purchases made in the United States, in US dollars	Purchases made in the United States, in Belgian francs	Purchases made in all countries, in US dollars	Purchases made in all countries, in Belgian francs	Exchange value rate
1931	5,566	199,438	392,644	14,073,330	35.8424
1932	2,475	88,880	261,986	9,408,334	35.9115
1933	1,543	44,832	334,035	9,705,622	29.0557
1934	2,408	51,807	634,895	13,659,704	21.5149
1935	2,276	62,563	976,899	26,853,214	27.4882
1936	1,988	58,803	1,245,310	36,835,044	29.579
1937	10,613	314,357	2,067,487	61,238,993	29.62
1938	7,522	222,579	1,380,846	40,859,948	29.5905
1939	3,507	103,786	1,066,411	31,559,498	29.5941
1940	627	18,810	395,187	11,855,636	30
1941	146,294	6,583,235	272,407	12,258,331	45
1942	191,988	8,639,460	1,283,334	57,750,072	45
1943	451,771	20,329,695	1,277,884	57,504,809	45
1944	537,434	24,184,530	1,300,816	58,536,753	45
1945	351,148	15,345,167	1,258,087	54,978,435	43,70
1946	110,938	4,847,990	1,709,912	74,723,198	43,70

^a AGR, Sibéka 2030, ‘Relevé des achats faits par, ou pour le compte de Forminière aux Etats-Unis d’Amérique et en tous pays’. 1948.

Table 4. Major steps in the US v. De Beers et al. antitrust action.^a

Date	Action	Court
29 January 1945 (October 1944 term)	Complaint filed by the United States Department of Justice against the De Beers cartel members	District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York
28 February 1945	Affidavit of Sidney H. Ball	United States District Court, State of New York, County of New York
6 April 1945	Motion for leave to file petition for writ of certiorari, petition for writ of certiorari and brief in support of the petition	Supreme Court of the United States
25 May 1945	Release of the bank accounts of the cartel members in the United States	Supreme Court of the United States
28 January 1947	The attorneys Cravath, Swaine and Moore, acting in the defence of De Beers et al. ask for the procedure to be quashed and the complaint dismissed	United States District Court, Southern District of New York
4 May 1948	The action is dismissed without costs (the motion is quashed)	United States District Court, Southern District of New York

^a AGR, Sibéka 2028.