Petra earns $140 mln from fourth sales cycle

Petra Diamonds has sold 735,222 carats from its South African operations for $140.6 million during the fourth sales cycle for the fiscal year 2022.
The miner had announced the initial results for the first 80% of goods sold for this cycle late last month.
The fourth tender cycle included one exceptional stone from the Cullinan mine in South Africa, which was a 157.8 carat white stone sold for $5.5 million. 
Petra classifies exceptional stones as rough diamonds that sell for $5 million or more each.
It said like-for-like rough diamond prices rose 46.5% on the six months to December 2021 and 37.6% on the third tender that closed mid-December 2021, with the balance of price movement attributable to product mix. 
Petra chief executive Richard Duffy said demand spanned the entire spectrum of rough assortments and sizes, with a notable increase in the price of larger stones – particularly the white D-colours, for which Cullinan is renowned, as well as fancy-coloured diamonds.  
“These strong sales results support the robust health across the diamond value chain that has been evident since mid-2021,” he said.
“Current pricing in the rough market is being driven by strong sales of polished and increased demand from the manufacturing centres, bolstered by record sales during the festive season that has continued into the new year.”
Meanwhile, Duffy said although they believe the market reflects the structural change in underlying supply and demand dynamics, it is too soon to determine what impact the current conflict in Ukraine will have on the global economy and the diamond market specifically.

Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished