In this cycle, provisional sales figures released by De Beers for 2024 indicate rough diamond sales totalling $445 million, compared to $431 million in the second cycle and $374 million in the first. However, these figures are notably lower than the $542 million reported during the third cycle of 2023. De Beers CEO Al Cook remains cautiously optimistic about the state of the global diamond market.
Cook highlighted, “Many diamond businesses are exercising caution in their purchasing decisions due to the uncertain economic landscape and slow growth in China. Nevertheless, we observed an increase in rough diamond sales during our third sales cycle, despite it typically being a slower period for demand in the second quarter.”
In previous remarks on March 13, Cook noted, “Consumer demand for diamond jewellery is on the rise in India, but remains sluggish in China. Overall, we anticipate a gradual recovery in rough diamond demand as the year progresses.”
On April 16, Petra Diamonds announced the results of its third diamond sales tender, observing relatively stable prices compared to previous cycles. Petra CEO Richard Duffy remarked that, “Average like-for-like prices for the first five tenders of financial year 2024 were down 8.5% year-to-date compared to the equivalent period in financial year 2023. However, pricing assumptions for the remainder of the year remain unchanged.”
