Rough-diamond sales by Anglo American’s majority-owned De Beers Group fell 6.1% in the eighth sales cycle of 2021 compared with the previous cycle, but up year on year, the company said on Wednesday.
Anglo said US consumer demand for diamond jewellery continued to perform strongly ahead of the key Christmas sales period.
Sales during the period were strong ahead of the Diwali holiday when demand is likely to be hurt by the closure of polishing factories in India, said chief executive Bruce Cleaver.
De Beers sold $490m of diamonds in the eight cycle of the year compared with $522m in the seventh and $467m for the eighth cycle last year.
Anglo American said sales are provisional figures due to a change in the company’s approach to diamond sales because of pandemic-related movement restrictions globally.
