De Beers has biggest diamond sale in a year

Diamonds are displayed during a visit to the De Beers Global Sightholder Sales (GSS) in Gaborone

Diamonds are displayed during a visit to the De Beers Global Sightholder Sales (GSS) in Gaborone

Published Jan 24, 2017

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London - De

Beers had its biggest diamond sale in at least a year as the gem industry

restocked after the key holiday period.

The company,

owned by Anglo American, sold $720 million of diamonds in its first sale of the

year, compared with $545 million at last year’s January offering, it said in a

statement Tuesday. The world’s biggest diamond producer said it saw “good

demand” across most diamond categories, while there was a larger-than-usual gap

between its previous sale.

The large amount

may help boost confidence that demand is continuing to rebound after a slump in

2015. It’s also a sign that trade buyers in India, who handle as much as 90

percent of the world’s rough diamonds, are recovering from wide-ranging

currency reforms in November that created a cash crunch.

Read also:  De Beers' diamond sales slower, but 'decent'

De Beers’s first

sale of the year, which gives traders a chance to replenish stocks following

the crucial holiday period, followed its smallest offering of 2016 in December.

The firm’s biggest sale last year was $666 million in April.

Anglo American

shares climbed as much as 4.7 percent to near the highest in more than two

years and was up 4.3 percent by 8:42 a.m. in London. Alrosa, the second-biggest

producer, gained as much as 4.6 percent in Moscow.

Indian impact

De Beers offered

concessions to buyers in recent sales to support the market in the wake of

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s fight against so-called black money. The

lowest end of the market has been hit hardest as more cutters and polishers of

cheap stones use cash to fund their businesses. De Beers cautioned Tuesday that

this part of the industry is still being affected.

“While the

reopening of some diamond polishing operations in India saw something of an

increase in demand for smaller, lower quality rough diamonds, we maintain a

cautious outlook for these categories as the Indian industry continues to

adjust to the post-demonetization environment,” De Beers said.

The company

sells its diamonds at 10 sales a year, known as sights, in Botswana’s

capital Gaborone. It invites about 80 customers, known as sightholders,

who buy the diamonds at prices set by De Beers. The company started publishing

its sales figures in January last year.

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