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(Unsplash)
- De Beers sold rough diamonds worth about R6.5 billion in its last one-week sales cycle in 2020.
- In dollar terms, that’s 3.3% more than it posted on the same sales in 2019.
- Diamond stocks were low after a near collapse in demand earlier this year, experts say.
- That reportedly meant De Beers might even raise prices again, if only slightly.
- For more stories, visit www.BusinessInsider.co.za.
De Beers’ interim sales for cycle 10, its last one-week window to buy rough diamonds in 2020, amounted to $ 440 million, parent company Anglo American announced Thursday.
Equivalent to around R6.5 billion, that number represents a 3.3% increase over the same cycle in 2019, the company’s figures show.
The increase comes despite De Beers reportedly raising prices for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic hit, by between 2% and 3%. In August, it cut prices by around 10%, after a near collapse in demand in the second quarter, to levels that De Beers believes may have been the lowest ever.
“We do not comment on rough diamond prices outside of our financial reporting periods,” De Beers told Business Insider South Africa.
The high sales since then, including sales worth $ 462 million between November 2 and 16, were thought to have been due to a reversal of the reduction in inventories by manufacturers, encouraged both by the cuts prices as per signs that the demand for jewelry would increase during the Diwali and Christmas seasons.
In India, that expectation seemed to be born, and “stifled demand” recorded a recovery of around three-quarters of 2019 sales.
Data from South Africa, including watch sales, suggested a deluge of luxury goods after the lockdown ended, but that quickly slowed again amid widespread financial woes among consumers.
Now jewelry makers appear to be expecting sustained demand in 2021, even as De Beers is hopeful but very cautious.
“While the diamond industry ends the year on a positive note, we must acknowledge the risks posed by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic to the recovery of the sector both during the remainder of this year and as we head into 2021.” CEO Bruce Cleaver said in a statement accompanying the sales data.
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