Botswana has projected a drop of 4% in its mineral revenues in the 2019/20 fiscal year, foreseeing revenues to drop to 13.6-billion pula ($1.26 billion) “as a result of a decline in royalties and dividends”, according to a news report quoted by Rough & Polished.
The report is based on Botswana’s Mineral Resources minister Eric Molale saying in a ministry budget document presented to parliament last week that global diamond demand was still weak: “Trading and prices of diamonds are expected to remain subdued during the first quarter of 2019 due to significant overstocking of small polished diamonds”, Molale said, adding that retail jewellery sales dropped during the last quarter of 2018. He also said that polished diamond prices “continued on a downward spiral in 2019, although at a slower rate”.
Debswana, a joint venture between De Beers and Botswana, produced 24.1 million carats of diamonds in 2018 – 6% more compared to 2017.
