Namibian diamonds last year continued to be the most valuable in the world by far, with an average value of US$342.97, or about N$2,500, per carat of the precious stone, says The Namibian daily in an article posted on www.allafrica.com.
The closest to local gems were South African diamonds, with an average value of US$144.23 per carat, and Canada, whose sparklers had an average value of US$134.75 per carat.
According to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme's 2009 annual summary of global diamond production, locally released by Old Mutual group economist Robin Sherbourne yesterday, Namibia remained the sixth biggest diamond producer in the world in terms of value, releasing US$408.7 million, or nearly N$3 billion, worth of stones into the international market. Russia claimed the top spot with US$2.3 billion, followed by Canada, Botswana, Angola and South Africa.
Like in 2008, Namibia also continued to be the eight biggest diamond producer in the world in terms of carats, delivering about 1.19 million carats of the total 124.8 million carats produced globally last year.
Meanwhile, official numbers show that diamonds should be adding considerable value to State coffers this year.
Ministry of Mines and Energy statistics, released by Bank Windhoek economist John Steytler, state that diamond royalties due to shareholders from January to June this year add up to N$184 million. Of this, N$92 million is owed to Government. The other half belongs to De Beers.
Steytler said royalties increased by 14.8 per cent to N$98 million from the first to the second quarter. Compared to the second quarter of 2009, however, royalties jumped by 34.2 per cent.
The ministry's new figures also show that local diamond production remains on track to put some sparkle back in the economy this year.
In the three months from April to June, half a million carats were mined, nearly 68 per cent more than the previous three months.
A year-on-year comparison impresses even more: production for the second quarter of 2010 is nearly 85 per cent higher than the corresponding quarter in 2009.
Total diamond production for the first six months of this year hit 797 000 carats, an increase of about 102 per cent compared to last year.
These figures need to be seen in context, though.
"2009 was an exceptionally bad year for diamond production due to the global economic crisis that saw production levels reducing worldwide due to weak global demand. In this connection, a more appropriate comparator year would be 2008, when close to 1.1 million carats were produced during the same period," Steytler said.
He added: "On the other hand, the year 2007 was an exceptionally good year for diamond production in Namibia when close to 1.3 million carats were mined during the first half of that year, more than the total production for the whole of 2009."
Provided that production continues at current levels, Steytler expects Namibia to mine close to 1.6 million carats of diamonds this year, about 69 per cent more than last year. Sherbourne is less optimistic and forecasts total 2010 production of around 1.2 million carats, mainly because of the widening gap between how much Namibia is producing and how much it manages to sell.
Of the 797 000 carats produced so far this year, only 455 000 or 57 per cent have been sold. During the second quarter, only 299 000 carats, or about 60 per cent of production, were sold.
Compared to the same time last year, only 0.4 per cent more carats was sold, Steytler said.
However, value of sales increased - by 14.8 per cent quarter-on-quarter and by 33.7 per cent year-on-year, he said.
According to Sherbourne, sales for the first six months of 2010 exceeded N$2 billion, with the average value per carat "far higher" than the same time in 2009.
