Anglo reports continued decline in De Beers diamond sales

(Sharecast News) - Anglo American said on Thursday it saw a substantial fall in diamond revenues from the latest sales cycle at subsidiary De Beers, as it beefs up marketing spend to try and allure customers over the key holiday season. Just $200m was raised from rough diamond sales during its eighth sales cycle of 2023, generated from global Sightholder sales and auctions.

This was down from $370m in the seventh cycle and $508m in the eighth cycle of 2022.

De Beers operates diamond mines across Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa, and sells 90% of its stones by value through Sightholder sales. The sales events, known as Sights, are held 10 times a year. The other 10% of its diamonds are sold via auctions.

Al Cook, De Beers' chief executive, said the company "reduced its rough diamond availability [...] as the industry's midstream rebalances certain areas of stock accumulation".

"De Beers will continue to support its Sightholders to help re-establish equilibrium between wholesale supply and demand by providing full flexibility for rough diamond allocations in Sights 9 and 10 of 2023," Cook said.

De Beers will be suspending online rough diamond auctions for the remainder of 2023, and investing an additional $20 million in natural diamond marketing to help drive consumer demand during the holiday season.