CHAMWE KAIRA
Namibia produced 631 584 carats of rough diamonds in the first quarter ended 31 March 2025, Anglo American, which owns De Beers, said. De Beers jointly owns several diamond production and processing companies with the Namibian government.
Production figures indicated that Debmarine Namibia produced 461 395 carats, while Namdeb (land operations) produced 170 189 carats.
Namibia produced 584 000 rough diamonds in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Rough diamond production in the third quarter of 2024 was 456 000 carats, while in the second quarter of 2024 it was 561 000 carats and 633 000 carats in the first quarter of 2024.
“Production in Namibia is broadly unchanged, with planned actions to lower production at Debmarine Namibia offset by planned mining of higher grade areas and better recoveries at Namdeb,” Anglo American said.
De Beers, overall rough diamond production decreased by 11% to 6.1 million carats, reflecting the continued production response to the prolonged period of lower demand.
In Botswana, production decreased by 8% to 4.6 million carats as a result of the planned actions to lower production.
In South Africa, production decreased by 19% to 0.5 million carats due to changes in shift configuration as well as the impact of the heavy rainfall and flooding in January 2025, which temporarily restricted access to the mining operations.
Production in Canada decreased by 40% to 0.4 million carats due to planned treatment of lower-grade ore.
Anglo American said consumer demand for diamond jewellery in the United States over the year-end holiday season was in line with expectations.
However, rough diamond demand in the first quarter remained subdued as the midstream continued its cautious approach to restocking due to excess loose polished diamond inventory.
The company said while there were signs of loose polished diamond prices stabilising towards the end of the quarter, lifting industry confidence, ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, in particular the impact of US tariffs, will likely result in continued cautious sightholder purchases in the near term.
“We continue to manage the business to preserve cash while maintaining underlying value,” the company said.
Rough diamond sales from two sights in Q1 2025 totalled 4.7 million carats (4.2 million carats on a consolidated basis), generating consolidated rough diamond sales revenue of US$520 million.
This is compared with two sights in Q1 2024 of 4.9 million carats (4.6 million carats on a consolidated basis), generating consolidated rough diamond revenue of US$925 million.
De Beers said production guidance for 2025 is unchanged at 20 to 23 million carats (100% basis). De Beers said it continues to monitor rough diamond trading conditions and will respond accordingly.
