Singapore, 26 September 2021 &ndash SGX-listed Metech International Limited (&ldquo Metech&rdquo or the &ldquo Company&rdquo , and together with its subsidiaries, the &ldquo Group&rdquo ), is pleased to announce that its whollyowned subsidiary, Asian Green Tech Pte. Ltd (" AGT" ), has entered into a joint venture agreement (" JVA" ) with X Diamond Capital Pte. Ltd. (" XDC" ) on 24 September 2021 to establish a joint venture,

pursuant to which AGT and XDC (collectively, the &ldquo Parties&rdquo ) will incorporate a joint venture company (" JV Company" ) in Singapore to carry out the business of manufacturing and distribution of lab-grown diamonds (the " Joint Venture" ).

 

Under the JVA, AGT shall operate and manage the JV Company while XDC shall provide technical support to the JV Company.

 

The Rising Popularity and Applications of Lab-Grown Diamonds

 

A lab-grown diamond is a diamond: chemically, physically and optically identical to a mined diamond.

 

While diamonds are more widely known to be used in jewellery, diamonds are also commonly used for industrial applications as they are extremely effective at polishing, cutting, and drilling. 

 

Furthermore, lab diamonds have the edge on mined diamonds with regards to their purity and hardness, with lab-grown diamonds found to be ten times more durable than natural diamonds. The US Department of Energy reports that diamond-based components reduce energy losses by up to 90%(1).

 

According to figures published by Diamond Foundry, the total environmental footprint of mined diamonds is much higher than lab diamonds.

 

In May 2021, the world&rsquo s largest jewellery, Pandora, says it will no longer sell mined diamonds and will switch to exclusively laboratory-made diamonds due to concerns about the environment and working practices in the mining industry.

 

Lab-grown diamond production has ballooned in recent years, with 6-7 million carats produced in 2020 alone, though still a tiny industry compared to diamond mining, which peaked at 152 million carats in 2017 and currently stands around 111 million carats. But lab-grown diamonds are increasingly pitched as the sustainable choice to price- and planet-conscious young consumers. In addition to Pandora, De Beers, Vrai and Kimaï have begun selling lab-grown diamonds as well as or in place of mined ones.

 

  According to Statista, the market size of lab-grown diamonds is forecasted to increase its value to approximately US$29.2 billion by 2025 and grow to nearly 19.2 million carats by 2030

The Joint Venture is aligned with the Group' s strategy to expand further into the environmental and sustainability business.

 

As lab-grown diamonds are created without the need for mining, they are a more sustainable production of diamonds and there are also opportunities to integrate renewable energy in such manufacturing activities, hence it is aligned with the Group' s environmental and sustainability business model.

 

 

 

 

METECH International' s wholly-owned subsidiary, Asian Green Tech (AGT), has entered into a joint venture (JV) with X Diamond Capital Pte Ltd (XDC) to manufacture and distribute lab-grown diamonds.

 

In a bourse filing on Thursday, the Catalist-listed company said that the JV company will be incorporated as Asian Eco Technology and will initially have an issued and paid-up capital of S$500,000 divided into 500,000 ordinary shares.

 

AGT will own 51 per cent of the share capital, while XDC will own the remainder.

 

AGT' s stake will be funded through internal resources, bank borrowings and potentially equity fund raising as well. Metech said that the JV is not expected to have any material impact on the earnings per share or net tangible assets per share of the group for the financial year ending June 30, 2022.

 

XDC is an exempt private company that is involved in the wholesale of jewellery made from precious metals and stones, as well as the manufacture of piezo-electric devices. The company is owned by Deng Yiming, Xu Kang and Yang Hanyu, each of whom hold 40 per cent, 35 per cent and 25 per cent of XDC' s shares respectively.

 

Metech said that the joint venture is in line with the group' s strategy to expand into the environmental and sustainability business, as lab-grown diamonds are more sustainable than mined diamonds to produce.

 

On Nov 3, Metech International substantial shareholder Simon Eng increased his direct interest in the Catalist-listed company from 24.19 per cent to 24.29 per cent with the acquisition of 100,000 shares at 12.00 cents per share.

 

Metech International provides smart solutions to bring value and efficiency to the global supply chain.

 

Leveraging on its expertise in the metal industry, the company has secured worldwide acceptance among major metal traders.