22nd Dec 2021 10:06
(Alliance News) - Anglo American PLC's De Beers on Wednesday characterised the demand for rough diamonds as "positive" despite lower sales in the final sale of the year.
Rough diamond sales value for the provisional tenth sales cycle was USD332 million, down 27% from USD452 million in the similar period last year. Sales in the tenth cycle also were down by 24% from USD438 million in the ninth cycle.
The tenth cycle represents sales for the period between December 6 and December 21, while the ninth cycle covered sales between the dates of November 8 and November 23.
For all of 2021, provisional rough diamond sales climbed to USD4.82 billion from USD2.79 billion in 2020 and USD4.04 billion in 2019.
Owing to the restrictions on the movement of people and products in various jurisdictions around the globe, De Beers said it continued to implement a more flexible approach to rough diamond sales during the tenth sales cycle.
De Beers Chief Executive Bruce Cleaver said rough diamond demand and midstream sentiment continued to be positive in the final sales cycle of this year, although as anticipated the group saw some impact on sales ahead of the seasonal closure of polishing factories in southern Africa over the Christmas period.
"Nonetheless, despite the ongoing challenges of Covid-19, our rough diamond sales for the year are higher than what we saw in 2019 before the onset of the pandemic, and much higher than our sales in 2020," Cleaver said.
"Consumer demand for diamond jewellery is continuing to perform very well over the key holiday period, so we head towards the new year with positive trading conditions and industry sentiment," he added.
Anglo American owns 85% of rough diamond miner and dealer De Beers. Anglo American has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and secondary listings on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Botswana Stock Exchange, the Namibia Stock Exchange and the SIX Swiss Exchange.
In Johannesburg, Anglo American shares were down 0.6% at ZAR619.62 late Wednesday morning. In London, they were down 1.0% at 2,937.50 pence.
By Artwell Dlamini; [email protected]
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