De Beers says production in the third quarter of the year fell as a result of maintenance disruptions at its key operations under its portfolio.
According to diamond mining major’s Production Report for the third quarter of 2026, rough diamond production was 11% lower at 6.8 million carats.
It said the decline was primarily driven by planned plant maintenance at Orapa in Botswana and a slowdown at Venetia in South Africa ahead of a planned two-year production pause.
“In Botswana, production decreased to 4.8 million carats, as a result of the planned plant maintenance at Orapa. Planned plant maintenance at Jwaneng in Q4 2026 is expected to substantially decrease production levels from Q3 2026 rates,” the company updated the market.
De Beers said in the report that in Namibia, production remained stable at 0.5 million carats while in South Africa, it decreased to 0.4 million carats, as Venetia ramped down production and processing ahead of its production pause. While activities to support the production pause will continue into early 2027, no further carat production is expected in 2026.
In Canada, production increased to 1.1 million carats, due to the planned processing of higher-grade ore at Gahcho Kué. As of 16 October 2026, De Beers has assumed full ownership of the Gahcho Kué mine following the enforcement of security over Mountain Province Diamonds’ 49% interest in the joint operation.
“As a result, De Beers will in future report 100% of Gahcho Kué mine production and sales rather than 51%. Whilst this does not impact global supply, this will result in an increase in De Beers’ reported attributable production.”
Meanwhile, De Beers said rough diamond trading conditions showed signs of stability during the third quarter, reflecting a more balanced supply-demand landscape and improved consumer demand across the US and India.
It, however, bemoaned that synthetic lab-grown diamonds continued to affect demand for lower-value natural diamonds, adding pressure in more price-sensitive categories.
De Beers said the year to date consolidated average realised price declined by 37% to $97/carat, as a result of an 18% decrease in the average rough price index and the return to a more balanced sales mix (a higher proportion of higher value goods were sold in the comparative period).
Rough diamond sales in Q3 2026 totalled 9.8 million carats (8.7 million carats on a consolidated basis) from two Sights, generating consolidated rough diamond sales revenue of $731 million.
“This compares with two Sights in Q3 2025 of 5.7 million carats (4.6 million carats on a consolidated basis), generating $700 million of consolidated rough diamond sales revenue.”
The company revealed that its productionguidance for 2026 has been revised to 25–28 million carats (100% basis) (previously 21-26 million carats), reflecting De Beers assuming full ownership of the Gahcho Kué mine.
“De Beers continues to monitor rough diamond trading conditions in order to align output with prevailing demand.”