De Beers has allowed sightholders to defer 100% of their sight four allocations to later in the year, according to media reports.
The fourth sight was scheduled for 4 to 8 May.
The Covid-19 induced lockdowns and international travel restrictions have resulted in less demand for rough stones.
Image credit: De Beers
“Most sightholders are going to defer all their goods,” an unnamed De Beers customer in India was quoted as saying by Rapaport.
“No one in the world is allowed to travel right now, so only the local Botswana factories may be [showing demand].”
Meanwhile, De Beers is also allowing sightholders sell up to 30% of their purchases back to the miner up from the usual maximum of 10%.
“But it’s not relevant. No one will use [the buybacks],” an unnamed rough-market source said.
It was not yet clear whether De Beers had cancelled its fourth sight or not as it remained mum about it.
The group canceled its third sight of the year due to the public health restrictions on the movement of people and product in Botswana, South Africa and India.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
