Provisional data released by Anglo American shows that the value of rough diamonds sold by De Beers dropped to $475 million during the 8th cycle of 2018. In the 7th cycle, De Beers sold $503 million worth of rough. In the 6th cycle , De Beers sold $533 million worth of rough.
Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group, said: “While the Rupee-Dollar exchange rate has impacted demand for lower value categories, we continue to see steady overall demand for De Beers Group rough diamonds, reflecting ongoing consumer demand for diamond jewellery in the US”.
In the first half of 2018, De Beers’ underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 9% year-on-year to $712 million. De Beers attributed the fall to “unit cost increases […] driven by the impact of unfavourable exchange rate movements and waste mining costs […]”. Total revenue was $3.2 billion, slightly better than H1 2017 ($3.1 billion). Sales were flat year-on-year at $2.9 billion. Rough diamond production increased 8% to 17.5 million carats.
