The De Beers Group has announced improved sales for 2022 despite facing a multitude of challenges in the second half of the year.
De Beers’ parent company Anglo American reported that the revenue increased by 18 per cent to $US6.62 billion ($AU9.71 billion) while rough diamond sales increased by 22 per cent to $US6 billion ($AU8.82 billion).
De Beers had a promising first half of the year as retailers restocked diamond supplies following a strong holiday period in 2021.
This strong start was later countered by a revenue decline in the second half when interest rates were raised in response to inflation.
Other issues such as the implementation of pandemic restrictions in China were also cited as reasons for sales struggles.
“The first half of 2022 saw largely positive trading conditions throughout the diamond pipeline,” a statement released by De Beers reads.
“While the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of related formal sanctions, as well as self-sanctioning, on Russian diamonds created uncertainty in the sector, healthy consumer demand, particularly in the US, led to polished price growth and robust demand for rough diamonds in the first half of the year”.
The report continues: “De Beers’ focus on enhanced provenance assurance for its rough diamonds helped underpin solid demand.”
“This may be partly mitigated by an increase in demand for diamond jewelery in China, following the removal of COVID-19 restrictions in late 2022.”
This year De Beers’ production guidance has been lowered to 33-30 million carats after reaching 34.6 million carats in 2022.
De Beers is the world’s largest diamond mining company and completes 10 sales cycles each year. The company recently completed its opening sales period for 2023.
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