(4 minutes read)
· De Beers, the Anglo American-owned diamond company is upbeat about demand picking up since the markets across the world are
recovering after the pandemic
· The company is confident that the present tumultuous situation also would be passed without much hiccups
· According to De Beers, China, one of the largest markets for diamonds, is slowly picking up and may reach normalcy very soon.
However, the US and Europe markets are in the backburner
De Beers, the Anglo American-owned diamond company is upbeat about demand picking up since the markets across the world are recovering
after the pandemic. De Beers, the highly rated diamond miner in the world says that diamonds had faced many vicissitudes including two
World Wars, economic depression of the 1930’s and several bouts of recession. It had stoically faced those catastrophic times. The
company is confident that the present tumultuous situation also would be passed without much hiccups. At the same time, the diamond miner feels that the pickup would be slow on account of the varying degrees of lifting of lockdowns across the world. According to De Beers, China, one of the largest markets for diamonds, is slowly picking up and may reach normalcy very soon. However, the US and Europe markets are in the backburner.
In April, De Beers had revised its production forecast for 2020 by seven-million carats to 25-27 million carats due to the expected
impact of Covid-19 on business. De Beers’ Venetia open pit mine in the Limpopo province was toning up operations. The mine has implemented
the healthcare standards in letter and spirit. Measures such as temperature scanning and sanitizing methods had become a “new normal”,
in the mine and its sales outlets.
The mining industry is upfront with growing numbers of coronavirus infections among employees since companies began ramping-up production
and recorded 527 confirmed cases of infection.
De Beers presently is developing the Venetia underground mine and is spending approximately R20 billion for development of the mine and its
surroundings. The mine will be in stream by 2021. In March, De Beers reported a 28% year-on-year decline in sales at US$355million, down
from US$496million in 2019.
