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Okavango 1H Rough Sales Soar on Record Supply
Jul 13, 2016 10:18 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... Okavango Diamond Company’s sales surged after the volume of rough supplied climbed to a record in the first half.
Sales soared 23 percent to $284 million, while the volume catapulted 35 percent to 1.75 million carats, a spokesperson for Okavango confirmed. This level of supply is the highest since sales began in late 2013, according to Rapaport records. The average price achieved across its sales fell 9 percent to $162 per carat during the period.
Okavango is entitled to receive 15 percent of production from Debswana, a diamond-mining joint venture between De Beers and the Botswana government, and sells its goods through 10 auctions per year at its facility in Gaborone. Its most recent auction in June closed with sales of $67.9 million from 416,789 carats, boosted mainly by the sale of a 196.02-carat precious stone for $6.5 million, or $33,346 per carat.
“Okavango saw a strong recovery in rough diamond prices during the first quarter as inventories were low and manufacturers sought new rough, following a better-than-expected U.S. retail season,” Toby Frears, Okavango’s managing director, told Reuters. “Since then, prices have eased back as demand has softened and underlying prices remain below where they were at the beginning of 2015.”
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Tags:
Botswana, De Beers, Debswana, diamonds, Okavango, Rapaport News
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