London-listed Petra Diamonds sold 885 236 ct of diamonds for $128.3-million during the third tender of the company’s financial year to June 30, 2022.
This compares with the 752 920 ct sold for $98.1-million during the third tender of the 2021 financial year.
On a like-for-like basis, rough diamond prices increased by about 16% on that recorded for the six months to June 30, 2021, the miner said on December 15, noting that this tender cycle included a 295.8 ct white diamond recovered from the Cullinan mine, which sold for $13.9-million to Stargems DMCC.
The cycle also included the first parcel sold on behalf of Williamson Diamonds post the restart of operations.
A total of 26 611 ct were sold from the Williamson parcel, including a 32.32 ct exceptional pink diamond, which sold for $13.8-million to Diacore International.
The balance of goods from the Williamson parcel sold for $6.4-million, averaging $241/ct.
In the financial year, to date, Petra has sold more than 1.5-million carats for $264.7-million.
CEO Richard Duffy said the strong sales results were “further evidence of the robust health of the diamond pipeline”, in spite of the rough market currently being driven by strong sales of polished diamonds and increased demand from the manufacturing centres, which Duffy said, in turn, reflects positive consumer markets, particularly in the run-up to the festive selling season.
“Demand at our most recent tender cycle appeared to span across the entire spectrum of rough assortments and sizes, and reflects the real shortages of quality goods further to the recent contraction of global rough supply,” he noted.