De Beers expects diamond demand to rebound

Rough patch: De Beers sales fell 21 percent in the first six months of the year
Rough patch: De Beers sales fell 21 percent in the first six months of the year

The world’s leading diamond company, De Beers says it expects global diamond demand to remain stable despite the challenges faced in the mid-stream in the first half of 2015.

De Beers’ executive head of strategy, Bruce Cleaver told the media at a conference call last Friday that although rough diamonds demand is likely to remain constrained for the year as a whole, the long-term future of the diamond industry still looks good.

“The diamond industry began to face pressures in the fourth quarter of 2014 as consumer demand growth was softer than expected and the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) backlog was cleared,” he said.

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