De Beers diamond sales tumble over Covid-19 pandemic

Sales at the diamond miner De Beers have slid to their lowest level in almost a decade after the pandemic took the shine off global demand for gems and jewelry. Report informs referring to The Guardian.

The world’s biggest diamond producer said it had provisionally sold $2.7bn of rough diamonds during 2020, down a third on 2019’s sales of more than $4bn.

Global demand for diamonds and jewelry tumbled in the spring, knocking sales and prices.

Simultaneously, diamond production at some of the company’s southern African sites declined by 27% as coronavirus restrictions hampered operations.

De Beers was also forced to cancel one of its regular sales events in Botswana after travel restrictions prevented buyers from attending.