Petra Diamonds has postponed the August/September tender from its South African operations to support steps taken by major producers to restrict supply due to weak demand.
It said without providing further details that the schedule for Williamson’s tender remains unchanged.
“Our expectation is that supply discipline, together with the expected seasonally stronger demand as we head towards the festive season, will provide some pricing support later in the calendar year,” said company chief executive Richard Duffy.
“Our recent steps to create a stronger balance sheet have provided us with flexibility around the timing of our tenders to respond to prevailing market conditions and we have adequate liquidity, including available and undrawn balances on our existing revolving credit facility, to fund our working capital requirements.”
Petra said the rough diamond parcels from South African operations would be tendered as part of the second tender expected to close mid-October.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
