Diamond producer De Beers reported last week that rough diamond sales in this year's first sale cycle had reached $505-million.
This is $167-million less than the $672- million earned in the first sales cycle of 2018. Sales in the previous cycle – Cycle 10 of 2018 – reached $544-million.
“Rough diamond sales during the first sales cycle of 2019 were lower than those for the equivalent period last year, reflecting higher-than-normal sales in the previous cycle and the slow movement of lower-value rough diamonds through the pipeline,” De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver commented.