Diamonds running a fever

Provisional figures released by De Beers yesterday show the diamond giant sold gems worth US$355 million in its second cycle of the year, down nearly 36% or US$196 million less than the previous cycle. Compared to the same cycle in 2019, sales decreased by 28% or US$141 million. De Beers CEO, Bruce Cleaver, said the group “recognised the impact of COVID-19 Ccronavirus on customers focused on supplying the Chinese market and put in place additional targeted flexibility to enable customers to defer allocations of the relevant rough diamonds". De Beers and the Namibian government each own 50% of Namdeb Holdings. Photo Nampa/Reuters