De Beers has raised prices of 5-carat and larger rough diamonds at this week’s sight in Botswana as manufacturers scramble to obtain the in-demand goods.
The move reflects severe shortages of the rough at the miner and on the open market, since global production cuts have had a disproportionate impact on that range. The 2-carat and larger polished they produce is also the most sought-after size in the US market, especially in long fancy shapes.
The scale of the increase was unclear because De Beers no longer tells sightholders the price of each box, providing only a one-line invoice for their entire purchase.
However, sources who spoke with Rapaport News on Tuesday and Wednesday gave estimates ranging from 2% to 10% for the price jump, based on available information and market knowledge.
Since De Beers’ supply was limited, not many sightholders have actually bought at this price, they cautioned.
Prices of 2.50- to 4-carat rough were stable, according to most estimates. Prices of smaller rough did not change. This comes after some sightholders estimated price cuts in those ranges at the January sight following another difficult year for the industry.
De Beers does not usually comment on pricing on a sight-by-sight basis and had not responded to a request from Rapaport News at press time.
‘Whatever price’
While the overall diamond market remains challenging, the sector is generally seeing tighter supply relative to demand the larger a stone is. The 2.50- to 4-carat range was also in demand at the sight, since that rough produces the 1-carat and larger polished that is moving better than smalls.
“Anything in 2-carat-plus [in the rough], everyone wants to buy at whatever price,” a sightholder said on condition of anonymity.
By contrast, rough of 0.75 carats — known as 3-grainers — and lower has seen continued weak sales at the sight. Goods that yield the higher-quality melee that’s currently selling in the Indian and European markets are in demand but too expensive compared with market prices, sightholders explained. The lower-quality equivalents are not desirable at all, they added. As a result, clients refused a lot of goods in those sizes.
Lighter stocks
While sales at the sight will likely be small, demand and sentiment improved compared with trading sessions in late 2025.
De Beers sold more rough by volume than it mined in 2025, helping the company work down its high inventories, and it also reduced its 2026 production outlook to between 21 million and 26 million carats. These factors have put Indian polished manufacturers in a broadly optimistic mood for this year, since they don’t expect too much rough to hit the market, as the February issue of the Rapaport Research Report explained. Many of them have also limited their own manufacturing output in response to lower overall demand.
“No one is in heavy stock,” an Indian manufacturing executive said on Tuesday. “We are very comfortable right now [in terms of] stocks and sales.”
The second sight of the year, which runs from Monday to Friday in Gaborone, included the annual sightholders’ cocktail and other presentations to clients on Tuesday. The Desert diamonds marketing campaign, which De Beers is promoting, was a central topic, though the main issue on everyone’s minds was the impending sale of the company, insiders said.
Image: A large rough diamond from Canada. (De Beers)
