De Beers has posted some excellent performance metrics for 2021. According to a press release, total revenue increased significantly to $5.6 billion (2020: $3.4 billion) as rough diamond sales rose to $4.9 billion (2020: $2.8 billion), “driven by positive sentiment and strong demand for diamond jewelry in key consumer markets.”
Despite Covid-19 waves, the miner sold 33.4 million carats in 2021 (2020: 21.4 million carats), and the average realized price rose by 10% to $146 per carat (2020: $133 per carat), “primarily as a result of positive market sentiment which gave rise to an 11% strengthening of the average rough price index.”
Underlying EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) increased to $1.1 billion (2020: $417 million), “reflecting the improvement in sales driven by the recovery in demand.”
De Beers’ rough production increased 29% to 32.3 million carats (2020: 25.1 million carats) “primarily due to the lower levels of production in 2020 as a result of the impact of Covid-19 related lockdowns and lower demand due to the pandemic.”
De Beers Group CFO Sarah Kuijlaars spoke to Mining Weekly, saying: “It’s a really proud day to report this strong set of results and it’s worth putting them in context – a year ago when we spoke, I was reporting on behalf of a loss-making business. It’s a really strong turnaround.”
Kuijlaars was optimistic about the miner’s outlook in 2022, adding: “Going forward, we’re seeing continued robust demand. Clearly, we won’t have the same growth rates as we’ve seen in the past because 2021 was obviously above 2020, but also above 2019. But we’re confident that the natural diamonds have got enduring meaning with consumers, and that will continue into the future.”
