De Beers Reports Huge Increase in Sales Volume

Sales totaled 32 million carats.

De Beers experienced significantly higher sales volume last year compared with 2015, Rapaport News reports.

Rough diamond sales totaled 32 million carats, compared with just under 20 million the prior year.

De Beers parent Anglo American stated that the more than 50 percent sales volume increase was because of lower polished inventory and decreased rough prices, according to Rapaport.

De Beers reported an average price per carat of $187. That represented a 10 percent decrease from 2015.

In the final quarter of 2016, De Beers’ production was up 10 percent compared with the same period in 2015, according to Reuters. The news agency reports that “output was boosted in line with improved trading conditions relative to a difficult 2015.”

For the full year, however, production was down 10 percent, Rapaport notes.

Read more at Rapaport and Reuters