Anglo American's De Beers sees diamond sales drop in tenth cycle

Sales at Anglo American’s De Beers diamond business fell in the tenth cycle of the year compared to the previous cycle, although sales were up on the same cycle last year.

Anglo said on Tuesday that sales of rough diamonds came in at $450m, down from $466m in the ninth sales cycle, but up from $422m in the same cycle last year.

De Beers chief executive Bruce Cleaver said: "The tenth sales cycle of the year saw the continuation of good demand for De Beers rough diamonds as we head towards the end of 2017."

RBC Capital Markets said sales were broadly in line with its expectations of $470m.

"Overall a relatively upbeat end to the year for rough sales, which is encouraging. Sentiment continues to be driven by the demand for polished, and the strength of the current jewellery sales season.

"In our view, assuming that the season shows stable demand for polished, we expect the rough market to have a more upbeat Q1 as the midstream completes its customary restock. However, we remain slightly cautious on the remainder of 2018, driven by still-robust supply and tight margins in the midstream which have reduced over the course of 2017 driven by improvements in the prices of some elements of rough, and limited polished price gains."

At 0950 GMT, Anglo shares were down 0.4% to 1,376.50p.