25 July 2024
[Ed. Note: Some selected excerpts]
Commenting on the first half of 2024, De Beers Group CEO Al Cook said: “Rough diamond trading conditions continue to be challenging. Although demand in the US has been steady and India remains robust, consumers in China are buying substantially fewer luxury products. Retailers are very cautious as they restock, creating higher than normal levels of midstream inventory.
“Despite these conditions, De Beers made great progress in delivering our Origins strategy during the first half of the year. We have streamlined the business, materially reducing our costs and ensuring we are best placed to grow value from mining to stores as conditions improve. We’re revitalising demand for natural diamonds for a new generation of consumers through our collaborations with Signet, Chow Tai Fook and other leading jewellery retailers. And we continue to support consumer confidence in natural diamonds, with high demand for our new DiamondProof lab-grown diamond detection instrument.
“While we expect the challenging rough diamond trading conditions to continue in the near-term, the actions we are taking will support the recovery in natural diamond demand and position De Beers well for the future.”
Markets
Following a challenging 2023, demand for rough diamonds recovered slightly at the start of 2024 following the cessation of the voluntary moratorium on rough diamond imports into India in late 2023 and improved demand for diamond jewellery over the year-end retail selling season in the United States. However, with midstream polished inventories remaining higher than normal and continued cautious restocking from retailers, demand for rough diamonds deteriorated in the second quarter of the year.
Operational Performance
Production in Canada [Gahcho Kue] was broadly flat at 1.3 million carats (30 June 2023: 1.4 million carats).
Market outlook
Weaker demand is expected to continue for some time, given the prevailing levels of midstream inventories. This is expected to be followed by a gradual recovery as demand from the United States, India and other countries draws down midstream inventories. Retailer re-stocking is expected to be supported by new natural diamond marketing, increasing engagement rates, improving macro-economic conditions and consumer confidence.
Operational outlook
Production in 2026 is expected to benefit from an expansion project at Gahcho Kué (Canada).
Much more in the full release.