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De Beers Sees Strong Demand at $580M Sight
Apr 4, 2017 3:54 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... De Beers’ rough-diamond sales rose to $580 million in its
third sales cycle of the year amid positive sentiment in the market, the miner
reported.
Sales grew 5% from a revised figure of $553 million in the
second cycle, but were 13% below last year’s March sale.
De Beers sales have reached $1.86 billion since the start of
the year, a 2% increase from the same period last year, according to Rapaport
records. The rise was largely due to a 34% jump in January sales, which came to
$729 million as rough demand improved following a liquidity crunch in India at
the end of 2016.
“We saw the continuation of good rough-diamond demand in cycle
three across the product range,” De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver said in a statement
Tuesday. “This reflected positive sentiment from our customers following the
Hong Kong International Jewellery Show in March.”
Sightholders reported strong demand for De Beers goods on the
secondary dealer market, with boxes selling at 5% to 10% premiums over the list
price.
De Beers holds 10 rough sales, or sights, per year in
Gaborone, Botswana. The latest sales figure includes last week’s sight as well
as other rough sales during the cycle.
The March sight was the last of the contract year — the
period at the beginning of which sightholders provide an intention-to-offer
(ITO), or an indication of how much rough they intend to buy in the coming
year.
During the upcoming ITO period, which starts with the next
sight, international sightholders will receive a lower supply of rough than
they forecast for the 2016-17 ITO year, since De Beers is allocating a larger
proportion of goods to its beneficiation and government partners, the company
explained to Rapaport News.
The next sight will take place from May 8 to 12.
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Tags:
De Beers, Rapaport News, Rough Diamonds, rough sales, Sightholders, Sights
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