AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
_10_04_2024_16_38_50_427275.jpg)
Summary
- De Beers has highlighted an increase in its rough diamond sales for the Cycle-1 of 2021.
- The company has also launched ReSet Forever Love to celebrate the Valentine’s season this year.
Diamond miner De Beers has announced that the value of its rough diamond sales for the Cycle-1 of this year has gone up to $650 million, which is more than the first sales cycle of 2020 -- $551 million. The company had published a report on 3 February, which revealed that this year’s sales is the strongest sales in last three years.
The figures represented estimated sale for the period between 18 January and 2 February. In the previous cycle for the period of 7 December to 16 December, the miner generated $551 million sales. The sales are up 10 per cent above the 20-year average of the group, recording the highest since January 2018. The rise in rough diamond sales is the attributed to the implementation of a more flexible approach, including extension of its Sight event beyond its normal week-long duration.
(Source: Copyright © 2020 Kalkine Media Pty Ltd.)
Initially, the coronavirus crisis had led to a collapse in the demand for jewellery items since lockdowns had prompted store closures and slump in sales. In fact, in the H1 last year, De Beers’ sales had slid to their lowest level in almost a decade. However, the sales recovered during the Christmas season due to a surge in purchases.
Bruce Cleaver, chief executive at De Beers Group, stated that though the midstream started the year at a low level, the company saw the holiday season to propel a good demand for rough diamonds as the midstream customers sought to restocking.
Though the diamond industry still faces risks to recovery due to the Covid restrictions, but Cleaver said he hoped to see a rise in demand over the Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day this month.
New collaboration
On 2 February, De Beers Group announced that it will launch a new collection known as ReSet Forever Love with three emerging jewellery designers from Central Saint Martins in London. The jewellery collection will include rings, necklaces and a brooch and it will incorporate rough and polished diamonds in the range of around 0.3 to 1.3 carats.
The company said it will be donating £10,000 towards a new Provenance Award to mark the launch of the collection, which focuses on skills development for jewellery design students.
Production highlights of De Beers
The production report published by the diamond miner for Q4 2020 revealed that the rough diamond production decreased by 14 per cent to 6.7 million carats, as a result of lower demand for rough diamonds. Another factor contributing to lower production was operational challenges at Orapa.
(Source: Company’s Website)
A total sale of 6.9 million carats, of rough diamonds was derived from two sights, in comparison with 7.0 million carats from two sights in the Q4 2019. There was a reduction in full year consolidated average realised price by 3 per cent to $133 per carat (2019: $137 per carat).
Outlook
The company expects the production for this year to be between 32 and 34 million carats, which is subject to trading conditions. The reason behind the low production estimate is ongoing operational challenges and lower expected production from the final cut at Venetia.
