SourcingOct 26, 2023
De Beers Production Declines 23 Percent in Q3 SourcingNov 21, 2023
De Beers’ Rough Diamond Sales Sink to $80M
India’s voluntary moratorium on rough diamond imports coupled with a stunted recovery in China continue to impact the miner.
Rough diamonds from De Beers Group’s Gahcho Kué mine in Canada. In its next-to-last sales cycle of 2023, the company’s rough diamond sales dropped to $80 million, a record low since the company began reporting sight results in 2016. (©De Beers Group/Photo credit: Ben Perry @ Armoury Films)
Gaborone, Botswana—Rough diamond sales sunk to a new low for De Beers Group in its latest round of sightholder sales due to India’s mortarium on imports and the stunted retail recovery in China, it said.
Rough diamond sales totaled just $80 million between Oct. 4 and Nov. 3, compared with $454 million in the same period last year.
It is the lowest total for the diamond miner and marketer since it began reporting sight results in 2016, sinking even below pandemic levels.
Year-to-date, De Beers is now pacing 35 percent behind its 2022 sales total.
Through the beginning of November, De Beers’ 2023 rough diamonds sales have totaled $3.49 billion, compared with $5.38 billion at this point last year, when De Beers had a stellar year with rough sales nearing $6 billion.
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Rough diamond sales totaled just $80 million between Oct. 4 and Nov. 3, compared with $454 million in the same period last year.
It is the lowest total for the diamond miner and marketer since it began reporting sight results in 2016, sinking even below pandemic levels.
Year-to-date, De Beers is now pacing 35 percent behind its 2022 sales total.
Through the beginning of November, De Beers’ 2023 rough diamonds sales have totaled $3.49 billion, compared with $5.38 billion at this point last year, when De Beers had a stellar year with rough sales nearing $6 billion.
Commenting on the company’s latest sales results, CEO Al Cook said: “Macro-economic challenges continue to affect the diamond sector. The retail recovery in China remains slow, and the voluntary import moratorium on rough diamonds into India will see extended Diwali holidays and factory closures in the world’s largest diamond cutting center.”
Because of this, De Beers continued to allow sightholders to buy as little or as much rough as they wanted to in the ninth sales cycle in an effort to help rebalance supply and demand in the midstream.
The company’s 10th and final sales cycle of the year will take place next month.
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