The Angolan government will work with a benchmark price of $100.3 per carat for production and sale of diamonds on the international market, an official has said.
The country’s finance minister Vera Daves was quoted by Macauhub as saying that the average carat price for diamonds had dropped from the previous $162.
Image credit: DWilliams (Pixabay)
Angola’s new government had been making efforts to reform the diamond industry, which was shrouded in secrecy.
The country’s diamond revenue for the 2018-2019 period grew by 6.2%, to $1.29 billion compared to $1.22 billion realised during the 2017-2018 period.
Angola is projecting an output of 14 million carats in 2020.
Meanwhile, Sociedade Mineira de Catoca has suspended work at its new concessions in a bid to prevent the spread of Covid-19 coronavirus.
The company said in a statement that they kept a few services operational, in line with instructions from the health authorities.
Catoca owns the fourth largest diamond mine in the world, which accounts for more than 75% of the diamonds produced in Angola.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
