The Bank of Botswana said that the country's rough and polished diamond exports dropped to $173.8 million in April after a huge leap the previous month. Botswana earned $411.3 million from diamond exports in March.
April's exports figure was seven percent lower than that of the same period last year although higher than $109 million recorded last January.
Although it was not clear what caused the April export figure to fall by half when compared with the previous month, Mmegi newspaper reports that the slump was part of the seasonal cycle of exports, rather than a result of the slowly emerging pressure on commodity prices caused by economic slowdowns in Europe.
Industry experts generally expected diamond prices and demand to be on the high this year.
Gem Diamonds said recently that the market for rough diamonds had continued to improve following the correction to prices in September 2011.
It said its Price Index had shown increases in every sale since this correction and was up some seven percent in 2012.
De Beers Botswana chief executive Neo Moroka also told Mmegi earlier this year that the demand for diamonds had been strong at the sights or auctions held by the Diamond Trading Company Botswana (DTCB) since the beginning of the year.
He said the sales were positive despite the fact that cutting and polishing firms still had stockpiles of diamonds from sights held last year.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
