Sourcing

Earlier Holiday Helps Boost Sales for De Beers

SourcingAug 03, 2017

Earlier Holiday Helps Boost Sales for De Beers

Rough diamond sales were up 8 percent year-over-year in the sixth sales cycle of the year thanks to different dates for Diwali.

2016_De-Beers-rough-packet.jpg
Rough diamond sales totaled $572 million in De Beers’ most recently concluded sales cycle, up from $528 million in in the same period last year.

Gaborone, Botswana--De Beers reported this week that rough diamond sales were up 8 percent year-over-year in its sixth sales cycle of the year.

The provisional total for rough stones sold both to sightholders and via its auction platform for the period ending July 31 was $572 million, compared with $528 million in the prior-year period.

De Beers Group CEO Bruce Cleaver said in a company statement said that an earlier-than-normal Diwali meant that many Indian diamantaires were making their pre-holiday purchases in this sales cycle instead of in the next one, as they normally do.

Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights and is scheduled to start on Oct. 18 this year. Last year, Diwali started Oct. 30.

Overall, Cleaver said the sixth sales cycle “maintained the trend of consistently good demand for De Beers rough diamonds across the product range.”

Additionally, the provisional figure for sales cycle five was revised upward by $11 million, from $530 million to $541 million.

Here’s a year-over-year comparison of rough diamond sales for De Beers so far this year.

                                               2016                                  2017                                       First sales cycle              $545 million                   $729 million                        Second $617 million $553 million  Third $666 million $586 million  Fourth $636 million $522 million  Fifth $564 million $541 million  Sixth $528 million $572 million  Seventh $639 million  Eighth $494 million  Ninth $476 million  Tenth $422 million 
Michelle Graffis the editor-in-chief at National Jeweler, directing the publication’s coverage both online and in print.

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