Diamond mining conglomerates, De Beers – which has operations in Namibia, South Africa, Botswana and Canada – have announced it sold diamonds worth $3.03bln in the first seven months of 2021.
The company, which announced its six-cycle results on Wednesday, said it sold $510m worth of diamonds in the period (12 July to 27 July), indicating an increase from the $116m the company recorded in the same period in 2020.
De Beers Group CEO, Bruce Cleaver, said:
“Our sixth sales cycle of the year has seen the continuation of good demand for rough diamonds, driven by strong demand for diamond jewellery in the key US and China consumer markets.
“With the ongoing strength in consumer sales of diamond jewellery, the outlook remains positive for the second half of the year, subject to the risks that the pandemic continues to present across the globe.”
Production levels at the end of June at consolidation have also increased by a diamond recovery which has increased by 134% to 8,2 million carats.
Last year June was impacted by Covid-19 when production was at its lowest globally.
In Botswana, production increased by 214% to 5,7 million carats for the first half of 2021 while Namibia’s production decreased by 6% to 300 000 carats.
South Africa’s production increased by 130% to 1,3 million carats due to the planned treatment of higher-grade ore from the final cut of the Venetia open pit.
Outside the African continent, production in Canada increased by 14% to 900 000 carats.