As previously reported, De Beers produced 16.1 million carats in the first half of 2017, a 21% increase year-on-year. Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani said that De Beers’ output “had been boosted by a ramp-up of production at the Gahcho Kué mine in Canada in which it has a 51% stake, along with stable trading conditions”. However, revenue for the first half of the year declined 4% to $3.1 billion, according to IDEX Online.
The fall in revenue is attributed by De Beers to “the normalisation of buying after the strong midstream restocking in H1 2016, as well as stronger demand for lower-value goods in Q1 2017, following a recovery from the initial impact of India’s demonetisation programme in late 2016”. This lower-value mix was compensated in part by “a higher average rough price index, which was 4% higher when compared with H1 2016”. Rough diamond prices fell 12% to $156 per carat during the period.
According to De Beers, there is “continued growth in the US and slight improvements in China” in consumer demand for diamond jewelry at the start of 2017. Demand also improved in India. As for the future, the miner says that the “macro-economic conditions underpinning consumer demand for polished diamonds globally remain supportive of marginal demand growth in 2017”.
De Beers added that its diamond production guidance for 2017 remains unchanged – 31-33 million carats till years’ end.
