De Beers, the Anglo American diamond unit, said its sales rose in the sixth cycle of the year as the annual Hindu event was held earlier than usual leading to clients buying stones earmarked for the next cycle.

The company said its rough diamond sales (Global Sightholder Sales and Auction Sales) for the sixth sales cycle of 2017 went up 5.7% from $541 million recorded in Cycle 5 of 2017 to provisional $572 million. De Beers chief executive officer, Bruce Cleaver said the sixth sales cycle of the year maintained the trend of consistently good demand for De Beers rough diamonds across the product range.

Clients bought rough diamonds earlier

“With Diwali being earlier than normal in 2017, we saw some demand from Indian diamantaires pulled forward from Sight 7,”Cleaver said.

“This was due to these customers needing to make rough diamond purchases in sufficient time to complete their polishing before the holiday begins.”

Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights celebrated every year in autumn in the northern hemisphere and has origins in India.

De Beers—owned 85% by Anglo American–said its rough diamond production increased by 36% to 8.7 million carats in second quarter of 2017, which was in line with the higher production forecast for 2017, reflecting stable trading conditions as well as the contribution from the ramp-up of Gahcho Kué in Canada.