De Beers has announced sales of $660 million at its first Sight of 2022 – almost double the revenue of last December’s Sight ($336 million) and very similar to the first sales cycle of 2021, which raised $663 million, according to IDEX Online.
Bruce Cleaver, CEO of De Beers Group, said: “As anticipated, there was strong growth in consumer demand for diamond jewellery over the end of year holiday season. As a result, we saw the continuation of robust rough diamond demand in the first sales cycle of the year as buyers focus on restocking depleted inventories.”
De Beers raised rough prices at the sale in “one of its most aggressive diamond price increases in recent years,” Mining Weekly, quoting “people familiar with the situation,” reported. The price at De Beer’s sale in Botswana is said to have been raised by about 8%. Larger stones rose by about 5%, while some smaller rough saw “price hikes of as much as 20%.”
