US jewellery helps support diamond demand for Anglo American's De Beers

De Beers sold $550m of rough diamonds in its fourth sales cycle of the year, taking turnover from Anglo American's diamond arm so far this year to $2.3bn.

The FTSE 100 group had made $520m in the preceding cycle of global sightholder sales and auction sales, following $555m and $665m in the second and first cycles.

Bruce Cleaver, CEO of De Beers, said: "In the fourth sales cycle of the year we saw robust demand for De Beers' rough diamonds, reflecting continued strong demand for diamond jewellery, especially from American consumers as we head towards the important JCK Las Vegas trade show at the start of June."