Debswana – Page 2 – The Diamond Certification Laboratory of Australia (DCLA)

De Beers and Alrosa Raise Rough Prices

The two largest diamond miners increased prices at this week’s rough sales as demand improved due to post-holiday restocking and strong trading ahead of the Chinese New Year.

De Beers raised prices by an average of 4% to 5% at its first sight of 2021, while Alrosa’s increases were around 6% to 7%, industry insiders told Rapaport News Monday. Both companies implemented steeper hikes in larger categories than for smaller goods, sources said.

“Alrosa makes sure that prices reflect the actual market trends and a confirmed real demand,” a spokesperson for the Russian miner said. De Beers declined to comment.

The miners have steadily been reversing the prices cuts they made in the second half of last year. De Beers’ price rise was its second in a row, with January prices almost back to pre-pandemic levels, sightholders noted.

The rough market showed momentum in January following a better 2020 holiday season than many had feared earlier in the year. Cutting factories in India raised polished production to full capacity as shortages emerged and retailers restocked, prompting manufacturers to buy rough in large quantities.

Demand rose on the secondary market, with De Beers clients able to make profits of 5% to 7% by reselling goods ahead of the sight. Those premiums declined slightly following the price increase.

“[Polished] inventory levels are the lowest for at least the past seven or eight years,” an executive at a sightholder said. “That’s the reason people are going to be more aggressive in their purchasing,” he continued, adding that some traders foresaw a spike in consumer demand due to government stimulus packages.

Prices at smaller miners’ tenders were higher still — in contrast to mid-2020, when manufacturers could get goods up to 25% cheaper on the open market compared with De Beers and Alrosa boxes. Tender prices fluctuate with the market conditions more than contract-sale prices do, as the smaller rough producers have greater liquidity needs.

Some traders expressed concern that the surge in rough purchases could lead to an oversupply, as Chinese retailers have almost finished preparing their inventories for the upcoming lunar festival on February 12.

“It’s time to go back to business, but it’s no time to push your production to the max and buy rough at any price with the excuse that your factory needs it,” another sightholder argued. “The end of year has been OK, including in the States. There are great expectations for a fantastic Chinese New Year, but the reality is that any Chinese retailer has stopped buying as from this week.”

Amid the uncertainty, Alrosa kept its policy of allowing customers to defer 100% of their allocations in January, noting that it wished to uphold the balance between supply and demand.

De Beers also allowed sightholders to refuse a proportion of their allocations for goods up to around 0.75 carats, while maintaining its standard flexibility — including 10% buybacks — in larger categories.

De Beers’ sight began on Monday in Botswana and runs until Friday, with viewings also taking place in Antwerp and Dubai. Alrosa’s sale started last Friday and continues for a week.

Source: Diamonds.net

De Beers sales rise 12% as diamond demand recovers

De Beers Group announced on Wednesday that sales of rough diamonds rose more than 12% in the latest sales cycle, as demand improves on the back of easing covid-19 restrictions and ahead of the holiday season.

Sales of $450 million between November 2 and November 16 were higher than the $400 million a year earlier, but declined from the $467 million in the eighth cycle between September 21 and October 9.

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“Steady demand for rough diamonds continued in the ninth sales cycle of the year, reflecting stable consumer demand for diamond jewellery at the retail level in the US and China, and expectations for reasonable demand to continue throughout the holiday season,” De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver said in a media release.

“However, the resurgence of covid-19 infections in several consumer markets presents ongoing risks.”

The company has continued to implement a more flexible approach to sales during the year, as a result of restrictions triggered by the pandemic.

It has also cut prices of its stones, sometimes by almost 10% for larger diamonds, in an effort to spark sales.

On Tuesday, rival Petra Diamond Petra reported a 36% fall in revenue and a net loss of $223 million for the year ended June 30, as the pandemic deepened the company’s financial woes.

Source: mining.com

De Beers says recovery to Extend – Well Beyond 2020

The diamond sector’s rebound from the Covid-19 crisis will feature ups and downs that will continue into next year at least, De Beers predicted.

“The demand recovery is not expected to be linear, particularly as localized lockdowns take place,” De Beers explained Monday in its annual Diamond Insight Report. “Retailer expectations for the second half of the year are mixed, with more optimism in the US but muted sentiments in India and the Far East.”

The pandemic severely hit Chinese demand in the first quarter of this year and US sales in the second quarter, with the recovery likely to “extend well beyond 2020,” the company noted. The impact of Covid-19 on the global economy and the second wave of lockdowns in the fourth quarter have further harmed consumer spending, it added.

“The consequences of these events will determine the short to medium-term outlook,” De Beers added. “However, a weakening US dollar could offset some of the softness in demand in local currencies.”

The pandemic dented the positive trends that were visible at the end of 2019, De Beers said. Diamond-jewelry sales to Chinese consumers slid 45% year on year in the first quarter of 2020, and by around a third for the entire first half, the company estimated. The second-quarter recovery was “tentative,” mainly benefiting established brands and online sales, it added.

In the US, sales dropped about 40% in the second quarter of 2020, and by just under 20% for the first half. There was “evidence of rising sales” among independent jewelers and chains, as well as online, in June and the third quarter, the company continued. Demand in India dropped by more than 30% in the first half, reflecting a slump of nearly 50% during the April-May lockdown.

In 2019, global diamond-jewelry demand increased 0.5% to $79 billion — a weaker growth figure than in previous years as the strong dollar dented sales in China. Demand rose 4% in the US and 3% in Japan, offsetting weaker figures in other markets. The US expanded its share of the polished-diamond market to 48%, from 46% in 2018, while China slipped to 15% from 16%.

The Chinese yuan depreciated against the dollar in 2019 amid a trade war between Beijing and Washington, DC. In local-currency terms, demand from Chinese consumers climbed 1%.

Source: Diamonds.net

De Beers sales show steady recovery in diamond market

De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer by value, said on Wednesday that its latest sale of roughs yielded 40% more revenue than the seventh cycle, which already was more successful than the previous event.

The Anglo American unit, which sells diamonds to a handpicked group of about 80 buyers 10 times a year at events called “sights”, sold $467 million worth of rough diamonds in the eighth cycle, compared to $320 in the previous one.

The results bring De Beers’ total revenue from rough diamonds in the second half of 2020 to more than $900 million.

De Beers’ chief executive Bruce Cleaver said that while the demand increase was encouraging, it was too early to be sure of a sustained recovery in trading conditions.

“We continue to see a steady improvement in demand for rough diamonds in the eighth sales cycle of the year, with cutters and polishers increasing their purchases as retail orders come through ahead of the key holiday season,” Cleaver said in the statement.

The strong figures are further evidence of improving demand for rough diamonds, according to said BMO analyst Edward Sterck. He warned, however, that there is a significant accumulation of upstream diamond inventories, which could suppress the recovery if liquidated too soon and too quickly.

“Maintaining good diamond prices through the recovery will depend upon the pace at which the inventory is unwound, with De Beers and Alrosa holding the keys to the bulk of this inventory,” Sterck wrote in a note to investors.

The analyst also said the fact De Beers only provided a revenue figure meant it was unable to gauge how prices were trending.

Lower prices, more flexibility
De Beers has continued to implement a more flexible approach to sales during the sixth and seventh sales cycles of the year, as a result of restrictions triggered by the pandemic.

The usual week-long sight holder events have been extended towards near-continuous sales.

It has also cut prices of its stones, sometimes by almost 10% for larger diamonds, in an effort to spark sales.

Before the price reduction, De Beers had made major concessions to their normal sales rules — allowing customers to renege on contracts and view diamonds in alternative locations.

Along with Russia’s Alrosa, the world’s top diamond producer by output, it has also axed supply of roughs to the market, but built up their own stockpiles.

The diamond giant noted that despite ongoing efforts, it expected it would take “some time” to get back to pre-pandemic levels of demand.

De Beers and Alrosa’s view is shared by many in the industry. India, which polishes about 90% of the world’s rough diamonds, expect the slump in exports to be worse this year than in 2008.

Colin Shah, chairman of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, told Bloomberg News on Wednesday that overseas sales of cut and polished diamonds may slump 20% to 25% in the year ending March from $18.66 billion last year.

Source: mining.com

De Beers Reduces Prices of Smaller Rough

De Beers lowered prices of rough diamonds below 1 carat as the positive sales momentum that began last month continued during this week’s sight, sightholders told Rapaport News.

The reductions for the September sight are between 5% and 10%, and follow the miner’s August price cut for rough above 1 carat.

De Beers and rival Alrosa had maintained prices throughout most of the pandemic to avoid flooding the market and devaluing inventories. This deterred many customers from buying, as they perceived the prices to be too high relative to polished prices, which had slumped during the crisis. Both companies finally reduced prices last month as polished demand had picked up ahead of the holidays and shortages emerged after months of low manufacturing activity.

“The prices had to be readjusted, because polished prices have fallen and rough prices did not fall,” a sightholder said Wednesday on condition of anonymity. “Now they’ve recalibrated the price according to today’s market environment. It shouldn’t affect polished prices much, but it [puts] profitability back in the rough.”

De Beers’ sales value at this week’s sight will be similar to last month’s, when the company brought in $320 million, rough-market sources predicted. Sentiment has risen and Indian manufacturers are seeking goods to polish ahead of the November Diwali festival, which is usually a period of shutdown for the sector.

“[Manufacturers] have reduced their polished inventory and want to increase the prices of their polished inventory,” another sightholder said. “They have liquidity because of the lower inventory and production in the last few months. So people are quite [keen] to manufacture. Hopefully the momentum will go on for a few months.”

Source: Diamonds .net

De Beers sales hint diamond market has bottomed out

De Beers thinks the recovery is at an early stage and that it will take some time to get back to pre-pandemic levels of demand. (Image courtesy of De Beers Group.)
De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer by value, revealed on Friday it made about three times as much in sales of roughs in the seventh sales cycle of the year as it did in the previous event.

The Anglo American unit, which sells diamonds to a handpicked group of about 80 buyers 10 times a year at events called sights, sold $320 million worth of rough diamonds in the seventh cycle. That compares to the $116 million fetched in the previous sight and is not far behind the $400 million De Beers sold on average each month last year.

The results, said BMO Analyst Edward Sterck, show the diamond market may have bottomed out and be on the slow road to recovery.

“Whilst the market has been defibrillated, we think it will remain in intensive care for some time, although any improvement is good news for the smaller pure play producers with weak balance sheets,” Sterck said in a note to investors.

De Beers chief executive Bruce Cleaver showed mild optimism, saying the recovery was at an early stage.

“The company, however, expects further market improvement as covid-19 restrictions continued to ease in various locations and manufacturers focus on meeting retail demand for polished diamonds,” Cleaver said in the statement.

The executive said that overall industry sentiment has become more positive as jewellers in the key markets, such as the US and China, gained confidence ahead of the important year-end holiday season.

The usual week long sight holder events have been extended towards near-continuous sales.

It has also cut prices of its stones, sometimes by almost 10% for larger diamonds, in an effort to spark sales.

Before the price reduction, De Beers had made major concessions to their normal sales rules allowing customers to renege on contracts and view diamonds in alternative locations.

Along with Russia’s Alrosa, the world’s top diamond producer by output, it has also axed supply of roughs to the market, but built up their own stockpiles.

The diamond giant noted that despite ongoing efforts, it expected it would take “some time” to get back to pre-pandemic levels of demand.

Source: mining.com

“Botswana Should Not Produce or Sell Synthetic Diamonds”

According to the official, synthetics will “compromise” the value of Botswana’s natural diamonds

Lucara 123 carat diamond — Lucara Diamonds

Mmetla Masire, permanent secretary at Botswana’s Ministry of Minerals, said in a Parliamentary Accounts Committee quoted by Rough & Polished that Botswana cannot engage in production and sale of synthetic diamonds as this will compromise “the value of our diamonds”. Credit: Debswana

The Letlhakane diamond mine in Botswana — De Beers mining

Masire said that “Botswana will send a confusing message to its customers should it decide to produce and sale synthetic diamonds”. He added that the Debswana Diamond Company (the joint venture between the government of Botswana and diamond miner De Beers) is searching for other markets other than the US to sell its diamonds, including in China. Credit: De Beers

Masire “refused to provide an update on the ongoing negotiations between Gaborone and De Beers as disclosure of any information pertaining to the negotiations will potentially influence the outcome”. Botswana and De Beers’ huge 10-year diamond sale agreement is expected to expire by the end of 2020. Botswana accounts for more than two-thirds of De Beers’ diamond production.

Source: israelidiamond

Buyers Snub De Beers and Alrosa over High Prices

De Beers and Alrosa continued to see rock-bottom sales in June as buyers rejected the miners’ high rough prices in favor of cheaper goods from smaller suppliers.

“[The major miners] want to hold on to prices, so people don’t see any [incentive] to buy because it’s difficult to sell and make money,” a sightholder told Rapaport News. “[Manufacturers and dealers] are already sitting on large inventories of polished and rough.”

The two largest producers have maintained their prices at pre-coronavirus levels, while other miners holding tenders in Antwerp have sold at prices 15% to 25% lower than in February, an Alrosa client observed. Even the smaller producers’ prices were inflated, he explained, as they were serving customers seeking specific items in small quantities.

If De Beers or Alrosa were to put their monthly allocations on the open market, they would fetch prices up to 30% below their current levels, the dealer estimated. “There is no appetite for rough, as factories [in India] have been operating on a very, very small capacity for a month,” he stressed.

“Sales of polished have not improved dramatically, and stocks are still there,” a sightholder added. “Factories have no reason to open, so why would we buy rough?”

De Beers held its June sight last week, with limited viewings in Antwerp instead of at the usual location in Gaborone, Botswana, due to Covid-19 travel restrictions. The sight had an estimated value of around $40 million, according to a source with knowledge of the sale. De Beers hasn’t released sales data since its February sight, and is scheduled to publish its earnings for the first half of the year on July 30.

Alrosa also struggled to attract buyers to its latest trading session, which ended June 15, after reporting record low revenues in April and May. The Russian miner is due to publish its June data on July 10.

Kick-starting sales

Rough buyers have sensed an increased urgency for both De Beers and Alrosa to increase revenue, after the miners allowed 100% deferrals of purchase allocations during the coronavirus crisis. They introduced that flexibility to protect prices and avoid flooding the market with goods, but now customers are unwilling to resume buying unless value improves. Five Alrosa clients have already given up their statuses as Alrosa contract customers since March, perceiving pressure to make purchases.

To drum up interest, Alrosa is considering holding contract sales outside Moscow for its July session, with Antwerp the likely venue, and is weighing up whether to continue its deferrals policy.

“Being committed to the prudent sales policy, in subsequent trading sessions of the year we will use all available instruments to maintain supply-and-demand balance and help to normalize cutters’ level of inventories,” an Alrosa spokesperson said. De Beers declined to comment.

Most manufacturers in India have enough rough to keep their factories going until August, and are only buying if they have specific shortages, dealers explained. That has boosted sales at smaller miners that are in need of liquidity and have sold low volumes at reduced prices to cutters looking to fill limited inventory gaps.

The recent increase in Covid-19 cases in Surat has added to the predicament, dealers asserted. The Indian polishing industry hasn’t returned to consistent operations since the government allowed it to reopen last month, with several companies forced into temporary shutdowns following virus outbreaks.

“Most [Alrosa] clients have the same attitude as me — they don’t need the goods, and they’re not ready even to look at the goods at this price,” a dealer said.

Gradual release

However, deep and sudden discounts on rough could damage the entire market, sightholders acknowledged. As such, they only foresee De Beers and Alrosa reducing prices when the market recovers, which the buyers expect to happen in the fall, assuming retail stores and trading centers continue to reopen. Only then will the largest miners gradually release their stockpiles, dealers predicted.

“Let [the goods] come in very small quantities, so in the meantime overall inventory will slowly decline, the industry will generate money, and banks will feel comfortable,” a dealer argued. “We will start our business from September onward, when the Christmas season begins.”

Indeed, buyers will have to return to De Beers and Alrosa if they need more significant volumes when the market improves.

“Maybe by then we will have more of a balance of supply and demand, and maybe we’ll have more confidence to buy at certain prices that we don’t have now,” a sightholder said.

Source: Diamonds.net

Don’t Ban Rough Buying, De Beers Urges

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. “However, just as we are not compelling our clients to purchase, we strongly believe it is counterproductive for any part of the industry to compel them not to purchase.”

Cleaver’s plea comes after the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) and other Indian trade organizations called on the nation’s diamond sector to pause rough-diamond imports for 30 days, beginning on May 15. The move would improve the Indian industry’s liquidity situation and deplete inflated polished inventories, the trade bodies explained.

Without explicitly referencing the Indian trade groups’ appeal to their members, Cleaver argued that supply had already been significantly reduced after De Beers suspended production at most of its mines. “Almost all other diamond producers have halted or significantly reduced supply, with some mines unlikely to return to production,” he added. De Beers cut its production guidance for 2020 to 25 million to 27 million carats, more than 20% below its initial projection, Cleaver noted.

The company also canceled its March sight and is offering 100% deferrals at sight 4, which begins Monday. Sightholders are likely to defer the vast majority of purchases to later in the year, as weak consumer demand and the shutdown of India’s cutting industry have diminished appetite for rough.

On Friday, India extended its nationwide lockdown by two weeks, raising the question of when diamond manufacturing would revert to normal, especially in the city of Surat, which produces more than 90% of the world’s polished goods.

Marketing message

Meanwhile, Cleaver urged the industry to capitalize on the diamond’s symbolism, as consumers will seek to purchase “fewer, but more meaningful things” as they move out of lockdown. Signs of pent-up demand from delayed weddings, and self-purchases to reward hardships that have been overcome, are starting to show in China as the lockdown there has eased, the CEO commented. People are visiting stores and shopping malls again, he said.

In its communication with consumers over the coming months, De Beers will emphasize the role diamonds play in shaping a better world and in forging meaningful connections, he stressed.

“Just as they have had to find innovative ways to stay connected with loved ones, we will find new ways to connect with them,” he said.

“Throughout time, the diamond has served as a powerful symbol of connection and meaning,” he wrote. “It has always been attached to life’s most precious moments and relationships and represented a store of value, but increasingly we believe a diamond is becoming a store of values.”

Source: Diamonds.net

De Beers Makes Dramatic Cut to Production Plan

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 for 2020 was due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mining activity and consumer traffic in key markets, the miner noted.

Rough-diamond production for the first quarter of 2020 slipped 1% to 7.8 million carats, roughly in line with the previous year. However, the coronavirus shutdown measures were not implemented at the miner’s sites until the end of the period, and had a limited impact on output, De Beers said.

Sales volume rose 19% to 8.9 million carats for the three months ending March 31. The increase was due to a favorable comparison with the same period the previous year, when demand was weak due to an oversupply of polished stones in the manufacturing sector. Additionally, the decline in demand caused by the pandemic — during which De Beers allowed customers to defer some of their allocations to the second quarter — was offset by higher appetite for lower-value goods, the company noted.

Production in Botswana declined 5% to 5.6 million carats, with diamond recovery at De Beers’ Orapa mine falling 7% as result of challenges in commissioning new plant infrastructure. Output at Jwaneng slipped 4% due to a planned shift to lower-grade ore.

Production in Namibia grew 6% to 511,000 carats, and in South Africa jumped 97% to 751,000 carats, as the final ore from the company’s open-pit operations at Venetia was mined prior to the transition to underground.

Output in Canada slid 19% to 844,000 carats, primarily due to the closure of the Victor mine, which reached its end of life in the second quarter of 2019. Output from Gahcho Kué, which the company owns in partnership with Mountain Province, rose 4% to 844,000 carats.

The first quarter featured two sales cycles, with proceeds falling 9% to $906 million. Demand reached a near-yearlong high in January, but fell again in February as the coronavirus began to spread. The company was forced to cancel its third site, which was due to begin at the end of March.

In 2009, the company slashed production by 49% to 24.6 million carats for the year when the global economic slowdown hit diamond demand.

Source: Diamonds.net