Debswana in Botswana and De Beers Consolidated Mines in South Africa year to date production has increased by 12%.

Total diamond sales were also up 15%, to $3.5 billion. This reflected the reasonably positive outlook for polished diamonds in the key markets of the US, China and India De Beers said in a statement.

De Beers group said that due to the seasonal nature of polished diamond consumption, it expects that H2 will see lower demand for rough diamonds.