De Beers reports good demand at its first sale of the year
De Beers reported a strong improvement in its first sale of rough diamonds for the year, realising $720m in what is normally one of its strongest demand period. A year ago, De Beers, an 85%-owned subsidiary of Anglo American, generated $545m from its sales to about 80 handpicked clients called sightholders and through auctions. De Beers sold $5.58bn worth of rough diamonds through its 10 sales events last year. "We saw good demand across the majority of our assortment during the first sales cycle of the year, as the industry entered the period when rough diamond demand is traditionally strongest," said De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver, adding that the gap between the final sale of last year in December and the first of this year bolstered demand. At the start of the sale in Gaborone, the city that hosts the 10 sales events after De Beers relocated its sorting, aggregation and sales business from London, Cleaver had warned of the negative effect on rough diamond sales from India’s demoneti...
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