De Beers Sales Drop at Sixth Cycle

RAPAPORT… De Beers sold $530 million of rough diamonds at its July cycle
amid a seasonal slowdown in the market, the company said Tuesday.

“Demand for De Beers’ rough diamonds was in line with
expectations during the seasonally quieter summer period for the industry’s
midstream sector,” said CEO Bruce Cleaver.

Revenue from the sixth sales cycle, including last week’s
sight, dropped 9% from $581 million during the previous cycle. Proceeds fell 8%
versus a year ago.

De Beers’ rough sales slipped 2% to $3.42 billion in
its first six sales of the year, according to Rapaport calculations. Rough-diamond
sales were flat in the first half of the year at $2.9 billion, the miner
reported last week.