Lucapa Diamond’s average rough price per carat from both Lulo and Mothae mines rose 36% to $1,883 in the first half of 2023, resulting in revenues increasing 35% to $46.8 million from $34.8 million a year earlier.
Outgoing Lucapa managing director Stephen Wetherall said the strong average prices demonstrated the continued solid demand for high-value productions like Mothae and Lulo, against a backdrop where the mainstream commercial goods have experienced a little more than the usual cyclical softening in the second quarter.
Lulo registered a 37% increase in carats sold to 14,337 carats in the first half compared to 10,449 carats in the comparative period last year.
Mothae, however, recorded a 23% drop in carats sold to 14,344 carats during the period from the previous year’s 18,523 carats.
The lower carats sold at Mothae were more than offset by a record 45% increase in the average diamond price achieved during the first half of $940 per carat.
Lucapa said the outlook for the natural diamond industry is positive, as the market is going to continue to experience a constrained rough diamond supply environment in the near term against rising luxury demand, led by the emerging markets of China and India.
Meanwhile, the miner’s combined output for the first half of the year grew 1% to 30,927 carats compared to the previous year’s 30,511 carats.
The average grade recovered dropped 11% to 2.5 cpht from 2.8 cpht in the first half of 2022.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
