Is this the reason?DDC has not done a deal for PGD?
It seems they think a full recovery of India demand is not until the fall of 2017.So they might be waiting to replace Bell and maybe do a winter program in 2018 when they are more confident of the market and the current stock buy back is finished? Just a guess:
The Diamond Market
The market ended the year on a positive note despite the divergence between the resilient market for larger better goods and the more challenging situation for the smaller cheaper goods. The Christmas season in the U.S. failed to meet market expectations, but this was balanced out by renewed retail activity over the Chinese New Year, resulting in an anticipated rise in polished demand from China in the first quarter of 2017.
The Indian retail market has started to recover from the jewelers' strike in the middle of the year and the impact of demonetization of the Indian rupee towards year-end. The latter is expected to continue to have a dampening effect on the Indian retail jewelry market in the short-term, with demand expected to return to normal in this sector by the fall of 2017. Much of the manufacturing sector that focuses on lower price rough diamonds was brought to a standstill by the demonetization. However, the segment of the manufacturing sector that focuses on higher priced rough diamonds, and produces primarily for the export market, has been less disrupted.
Ekati Production