Anglo American reports year-on-year rise for De Beers diamond sales

Anglo American reported rough diamond sales of $630m for De Beers’ sixth 2022 sales cycle on Wednesday, down from $657m in the fifth cycle, but up from $514m in the same period last year.

The FTSE 100 mining giant said that due to restrictions on the movement of people and products in a number of jurisdictions globally, De Beers had continued to implement a “more flexible approach” to rough diamond sales during the sixth cycle.

It said the sight event was thus extended beyond its normal week-long duration.

As a result, the provisional rough diamond sales figure quoted for the cycle represented the expected sales value for the period from 11 to 26 July, and remained subject to adjustment based on final completed sales.

“Following a period of consistently robust demand in the first half, we continued to see steady demand for De Beers rough diamonds in the sixth sales cycle of the year,” said De Beers chief executive officer Bruce Cleaver.

“However, the diamond industry continues to adopt a watchful approach in light of the risks to consumer sentiment presented by macroeconomic challenges.”

At 0937 BST, shares in Anglo American were up 0.16% at 2,755p.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.