De Beers, the diamond company owned by Anglo American PLC (LSE:AAL), revealed revenues dropped to US$200 million from US$508 million the year prior in its most recent sales cycle, a trading update on Tuesday explained.
Measuring the sales between 18 September and 3 October, the drop in the value of sales also slowed cycle on cycle, with revenues in the period from 14 August to 29 August coming in at US$370 million.
Al Cook, the chief executive officer at De Beers, said the drop in sales comes at a time when there is a reduction in rough diamond availability, while the industry’s midstream aims to try and rebalance stocks.
"De Beers will continue to support its Sightholders to help re-establish equilibrium between wholesale supply and demand by providing full flexibility for rough diamond allocations in Sights 9 and 10 of 2023, suspending De Beers Group online rough diamond auctions for the remainder of 2023, and investing an additional $20 million in natural diamond marketing to help drive consumer demand during the holiday season," Cook added.
Shares in Anglo American dropped a little under 1% on Thursday, having opened trading in London at around 2,135p.