Rough diamond sales at Debswana, the 50/50 joint venture between De Beers and the Botswana government, fell 17% during the first half of 2023 “amid ongoing weak demand,” according to IDEX Online.
During the period, Debswana sold 12.7 million carats, raking in $2.179 billion, down from $2.622 billion during the same period last year.
Debswana’s rough sales were up 24.2% to a record $4.588 billion in 2022 as buyers shunned Russian goods. Botswana is the world’s second biggest producer after Russia. In 2021, rough sales totaled $3.47 billion. In 2020, rough sales totaled $2.12 billion.
