Botswana’s Okavango Diamond Company (ODC), which is wholly owned by the state, has sold $963 million worth of rough diamonds in 2021 – almost five times more than in 2020 and a new record for ODC, according to IDEX Online.
According to Dennis Tlaang, a company spokesman, ODC’s revenue “was the most since the company began operations in 2012.” He added: “The demand for natural rough diamonds remained strong throughout 2021 driven primarily by positive market sentiment in key markets such as the United States.”
Debswana, a joint venture between Anglo American business De Beers and the Botswana government, announced in mid-February that its sales of rough diamonds jumped 64% year-on-year to $3.466 billion in 2021, “driven by the reopening of key global consumer markets.”
