De Beers is planning to proceed with its diamond sales scheduled for end of the month although sightholders won’t be allowed to inspect goods in person, according to a news report.
Botswana, where De Beers conducts its 10 sales each year, introduced a travel ban last Monday on 18 high-risk countries to protect itself from the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The countries include Belgium, India and China.
Image credit: De Beers
“Our intention remains to hold the sight, in line with the desire for it go ahead expressed by customers, but we are developing a suite of contingency plans in the event that it is not possible to hold the sight in the usual manner,” De Beers was quoted by Bloomberg as saying in a statement.
The diamond company was reportedly mulling options such as a “blind” sight, where buyers don’t inspect the goods they are purchasing in person.
Another option was for the buyers to send local staff to the sale.
De Beers and the Botswana government were expected to convene an emergency meeting next week, according to the local media.
De Beers raked in $355 million from its second rough diamond sale compared with $496 million, a year earlier and $551 million, the previous month.
Group chief executive Bruce Cleaver said early this month that they recognised the impact of COVID-19 Coronavirus on customers focused on supplying the Chinese market.
The group had to put in place additional targeted flexibility to enable customers to defer allocations of the relevant rough diamonds.
The diamond industry experienced an oversupply of polished diamonds last year, which led to sharp price drops than for rough stones.
De Beers was forced to lower prices across the board by about 5%.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
