The continuous sluggish sales volume and weak demand by the consumers for natural diamonds had significant impact on the performance of De Beers Group which saw its revenue declining to $3.3 billion (P45 billion) in 2024 as compared to $4 billion in 2023. Presenting the Group’s 2024 interim financial results on Thursday, Diamond Trading, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Niranjan Mylvaganam, said 2024 just like 2023 was challenging for rough diamonds trading. He noted that underlying EBITDA decreased to $300 million (30 June 2023: $347 million), driven by reduced sales volumes and high unit costs due to intentional lower production and the ramp up of Venetia underground.
Mylvaganam said the economic headwinds in China has resulted in lower demand of rough diamonds that negatively impacted on the business as middle-income Chinese are cautious in deciding where to spend their money.
De Beers also said consumer demand in the United States continued to be affected by economic uncertainty, soft consumer confidence and lab-grown diamonds. Conversely, in India, strong economic growth underpinned positive natural diamond jewellery demand growth. Mylvaganam said De Beers is focusing on category marketing and strategic partnerships to quell the weaker demand and sales situation.
“In reducing our overhead costs, we are not only making sure we are well placed to navigate the challenging period but also making sure we are best placed to maximise our performance once the upturn comes,” he said. For his part, James Kirby – the Senior Vice President Product Planning at De Beers – said the new origins strategy will enhance value across our business from mining to retail and revatilise desire for natural diamonds among a new generation of consumers.
Kirby said through the strategy, De Beers pivot synthetics and suspend Lab Grown Diamonds production and focus on being a world leading provider of synthetic diamond technology solutions for industrial applications.
He also said there is an urgent need to deliver Jwaneng mine underground production within time. In addition, Kirby said the Russian diamonds which had been sanctioned by the G7 countries don’t necessarily have impact on De Beers although they are being sold to other markets, especially the East.
PRODUCTION
Meanwhile, De Beers said rough diamond production reduced to 13.3 million carats (30 June 2023: 16.5 million carats).
The Group said this reflects the decision to intentionally lower production and change short term plant feed mix in response to the weaker rough diamond demand due to the higher-than-average levels of inventory in the midstream and cautious retailer restocking.
In Botswana, production was reduced by 24% to 9.7 million carats (30 June 2023: 12.7 million carats), driven by intentional lower production and short-term changes in plant feed at Jwaneng and Orapa.
According to De Beers, Namibia production decreased by 3% to 1.2 million carats (30 June 2023: 1.2 million carats), with planned lower production at Debmarine Namibia, partially offset by planned mining of areas with higher grades and recoveries at Namdeb
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