De Beers Sales Rise Following Price Cut

De Beers’ rough-diamond sales jumped in the first quarter as the miner’s price reductions for smaller goods appeared to boost demand.

Sales volume rose 64% year on year to 7.7 million carats including supply to joint-venture partners, parent company Anglo American reported Monday. Consolidated sales — which exclude that avenue — increased 53% to 6.4 million carats. Revenue on a consolidated basis rose 25% to $648 million.

De Beers lowered prices of 1- to 2-carat rough at its January sight, according to sources, with some also estimating cuts in 2- to 4-carat items. The company increased prices of 5-carat and larger stones in February.

The price reductions appear to have been the main factor in stimulating demand. The consolidated average selling price declined 19% to $101 per carat, reflecting both a 17% year-on-year drop in the average rough price index as well as a greater proportion of lower-value goods in the product mix.

The figures cover the first two sights of the year — the same number of trading sessions that took place in first quarter of 2025. While the third sight of 2026 began in March, proceeds will count toward second-quarter results.

Production grew 17% year on year to 7.1 million carats for the first quarter because of higher volumes from the underground Venetia mine in South Africa as well as a planned release of ore from the Gahcho Kué deposit in Canada. The company has concluded work to enable access to ore from Gahcho Kué’s northeast extension, resulting in that material being available for processing.

Still, rough-diamond trading conditions “continued to be challenged due to ongoing industry, geopolitical and tariff headwinds,” Anglo said. De Beers’ production plan for 2026 remains at 21 million to 26 million carats.

“We are progressing the sale process for De Beers and continue to assess further cost and capital preservation measures to minimize the impact from challenging diamond markets,” said Anglo CEO Duncan Wanblad.

The company is “committed to divesting De Beers” and expects to provide an update “through the course of 2026,” the group added.

Rough index

Meanwhile, Anglo American has revised De Beers’ average price index going back to the start of 2025, illustrating the effects of last year’s bulk sales.

The restatement shows the miner’s rough prices fell 18% on a like-for-like basis in the first quarter of 2025 compared with the fourth quarter of 2024. They then stabilized in the next two quarters of 2025 and dropped 9% in the fourth quarter. The index tracks prices relative to December 2006, when it stood at 100.

Anglo American, which owns 85% of De Beers, said the new figures included the effect of “stock-rebalancing actions” — sales of less in-demand inventory the company made to select sightholders at discounts last year. Previously, the index excluded this impact, reflecting only the company’s official list prices. The old numbers showed a decrease of only 6% in the first quarter of 2025 and stable prices for the rest of the year.

The purpose of the special deals was to offload slow items without hitting market prices and sentiment.

Previously, De Beers had revealed only that the price index for the whole of 2025 fell 25% compared with 2024 including the rebalancing, and 12% excluding it.

The index declined 8% quarter on quarter in the first three months of this year, mirroring the combined effect of the January price cuts and the February increase.

Update, April 28, 2026: Additional information about the production increase at Gahcho Kué has been added to this article.

Image: Rough diamonds. (De Beers)