Due to continually sluggish diamond sales, DeBeers cut production by nearly a third in the third quarter. Parent company Anglo American has reported that diamond production for this period totaled 6 million carats, making for a 27 per cent drop in sales when compared with the more than 8 million carats produced during the third quarter of 2014.
De Beers says it has decided to reduce production to “better reflect current trading conditions.” The company also decreased its full-year production guidance to approximately 29 million carats, down from the earlier projection of 29 to 31 million carats.
Alrosa, the Russian diamond mining company, has also released its third quarter and year-to-date production results. During this period, it mined 11.6 million carats of diamonds, up 20 per cent year-over-year and up 21 percent from the second quarter.
While Alrosa continues to see increased production despite the slowdown in the diamond market, the global drop in demand is exposed in its sales. Preliminary third quarter and year-to-date sales figures show that the company sold 23 million carats of diamonds in the first nine months of the year, with rough diamond sales reaching $2.7 billion. Both figures are down from the same period last year. CJ
