De Beers enjoys strong diamond sales despite economic uncertainty

(businesslive.co.za) - De Beers has reported strong diamond sales in the face of global economic uncertainty and the looming threat of the synthetic gem market. On Tuesday, the Anglo American subsidiary and the world’s largest diamond producer reported its latest provisional rough-diamond sales numbers — the fifth sales cycle for the year — of $575m. This is a 6% increase from the $541m in sales realised in the fifth sales cycle in 2017, and it is 3.7% higher than the $554m in sales from the fourth cycle, which occurred in May this year. "Sentiment in the diamond industry’s mid-stream is positive following the JCK Las Vegas trade show [the jewellery industry’s premier trade show] at the start of the month," said De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver in a statement. Diamond consultant John Bristow said that while commodities on the whole have taken a big knock, largely thanks to the threat of US President Donald Trump’s trade war, the diamond business has escaped these impacts and "is ticking along quite solidly and with a good outlook".