De Beers’ sales and production nosedived in the second quarter as the coronavirus crushed diamond demand throughout the pipeline and forced shutdowns at several mines. “Demand for rough diamonds was significantly impacted by a combination of Covid-19 restrictions [affecting] consumer demand and access to southern Africa, as well as severely limited midstream cutting-and-polishing capacity due … Read more
De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver has called on the trade to allow rough purchases, assuring manufacturers the company won’t require them to buy in the weak market. “We will only sell [rough] when the demand is such that it can create sustainable value for all of us,” the executive wrote in a blog post Friday. … Read more
De Beers has reduced its full-year production guidance by 7 million carats, putting the miner on course for its lowest output since 2009. The miner expects to produce between 25 million and 27 million carats in 2020, compared to the 32 million to 34 million in its original projection, it said Thursday. The revised forecast … Read more
De Beers has called off this week’s sight in Botswana, citing restrictions resulting from measures to contain the coronavirus. Lockdowns in Botswana, South Africa and India are prohibiting sightholders from traveling and preventing the shipment of merchandise to clients’ international operations, De Beers said in a statement Monday. The company is letting sightholders defer 100% … Read more
De Beers’ rough-diamond sales declined 28% year on year to $355 million in February as the coronavirus hit demand. Many sightholders took up the miner’s offer to delay buying goods destined for China, sources in the rough market told Rapaport News. The company let clients reject certain 1- to 2-carat rough diamonds and reschedule those purchases … Read more
De Beers plans to split sightholders into three categories and offer each group a more bespoke selection of rough diamonds as part of changes to its sales system. Manufacturers, dealers and retailers will sign specific supply contracts designed for the “broad needs” of each business model, a De Beers spokesperson told Rapaport News Thursday. The arrangement will … Read more
De Beers has allowed clients to forgo buying certain rough diamonds at this week’s sight, as the coronavirus outbreak has raised concerns about a polished glut. The miner has let sightholders defer purchases of goods that produce the types of polished popular in the Chinese retail market, a source at the sight told Rapaport News Wednesday. The … Read more
De Beers and its clients expect a slowdown in rough-diamond sales at the company’s Botswana sight this week amid concerns about the coronavirus. “It’s fair to say there will be an impact on rough demand in the short term,” De Beers chief financial officer Nimesh Patel said Thursday in an interview with Rapaport News. “I’d expect … Read more
De Beers gave a positive outlook for 2020 due to an improvement in the industry’s inventory situation, despite growing concerns about Chinese demand. Early data from the holiday season indicate midstream stock levels are more balanced than they were, the company reported Thursday in parent company Anglo American’s annual financial results. The miner maintained its … Read more
De Beers plans to abandon its practice of using sightholders’ purchase history as the main factor in determining how it allocates rough supply, sources have told Rapaport News. The move, which would go into effect from 2021, would see the miner shift to more subjective criteria for deciding the value of goods each client receives. The … Read more