De Beers Group today said that the value of rough diamond sales at the first cycle of the current year was significantly lower than a year earlier due to higher than normal sales in the previous cycle and the slow movement of lower value rough.

The provisional value, as of January 28, of all sales during this cycle (including Global Sightholder Sales and Auction Sales) stood at US$ 505 million, a statement from De Beers said. This was against actual sales of US$ 544 million during the previous cycle (i.e. Cycle 10 of 2018) and US$ 672 million recorded in the sale during the same period last year (i.e. Cycle 1 of 2018).

Commenting on the sales in Cycle 1, Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group, said: “Rough diamond sales during the first sales cycle of 2019 were lower than those for the equivalent period last year, reflecting higher than normal sales in the previous cycle (cycle 10 2018) and the slow movement of lower value rough diamonds through the pipeline.”