De Beers said its sales were lower in the latest statistics but the miner said they were in line with expectations. The company, which is a subsidiary of global mining giant Anglo American, noted that the value of provisional rough diamond sales (Global Sightholder Sales and Auction Sales) for the ninth sales cycle of 2018 stood at US$440m. This was a year-on-year decline from actual figure of US$466m recorded in Cycle 9 2017 and actual US$482m recorded in Cycle 8 2018.

However, the company remains bullish about the market as there are signs of improvement ahead of India’s popular holiday.

Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group, said: “As the industry’s focus turns towards the key end of year retail selling season, rough diamond sales continued to be in line with expectation during the ninth cycle of the year”.

De Beers rough diamonds

“While demand for smaller, lower quality rough diamonds continues to see some challenges, the latest cycle saw some signs of improvement in this area as factories in India begin to reopen after Diwali,” he added.

According to De Beers, Cycle 8 2018 actual sales value is restated following the earlier publication of a provisional figure for the eighth sales cycle of 2018. On the other hand, sales values are quoted on a consolidated accounting basis. Auction Sales included in a given cycle are the sum of all sales between the end of the preceding cycle and the end of the noted cycle.