The December site of De Beers brought the company $ 600 million amid allegations of "bad mood", which reigned last year in the sale of diamonds of this group of companies.
Rapaport reports that a fairly large part of the diamond supply remained "unclaimed." According to various estimates, it was not possible to sell up to 25% of all diamonds offered to buyers on the December website.
"I have not seen such a bad demand on the De Beers website for about two years," says an unnamed siteholder from India.
Earlier, many sightholders expressed concerns that high prices for rough diamonds do not allow profit from cutting.
"We could not achieve any constructive proposals from De Beers, so we had nothing to do but postpone the purchase of diamonds for later sites," said one of the sightholders.
This year, diamond prices rose by 7%.
David Johnson, director of communications at De Beers with diamond processing companies, said that the December site had more unclaimed diamonds than on previous sites. However, this is a common occurrence at the end of the year, he added.
"Last year, retailers started buying diamonds before the holiday season, but it seems that this year they are pulling with purchases to the last," Johnson said. "At the same time, De Beers expects an increased demand for diamond products in major markets, especially in USA".