De Beers Posts Drop in Rough Diamond Sales as Coronavirus Hits

De Beers Group today announced the value of rough diamond sales (Global Sightholder Sales and Auctions) for the second sales cycle of 2020.

Cycle 2 2020
(provisional)

Cycle 1 2020
(actual)

Cycle 2 2019
(actual)

Sales value ($M)

355

551

496


Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group, said: “Following an improvement in demand for rough diamonds during the first sales cycle of 2020, we recognised the impact of COVID-19 Coronavirus on customers focused on supplying the Chinese market and put in place additional targeted flexibility to enable customers to defer allocations of the relevant rough diamonds.”