De Beers' rough diamond production increases, but prices, demand remain under pressure

The company says the higher second-quarter production reflected the impact of the extended maintenance shutdown at its Orapa mine, in Botswana, in the second quarter of 2025, as well as the planned mining of higher-grade ore at both Jwaneng, in Botswana, and Gahcho Kué, in Canada.

Production from its operations in Botswana increased by 107% year-on-year to 5.5-million carats for the second quarter. Production for the half-year was also 43% higher year-on-year at 10.3-million carats.

Further, De Beers' Namibian assets produced 500 000 ct for the second quarter – broadly unchanged from production in the prior comparable period.

"The retirement of the Coral Sea vessel in the comparative period and planned maintenance of the Mafuta vessel at Debmarine Namibia were largely offset by the planned mining of higher-grade areas at Namdeb," the diamond miner points out.

The Namibian operations' output for the half-year were, meanwhile, down by 7% year-on-year to 1.09-million carats.

Production at the Venetia mine, in South Africa, increased by 24% year-on-year to 700 000 ct in the second quarter, largely as a result of processing higher volumes of underground ore. Production was the half-year was also 37% higher year-on-year at 1.47-million carats.

De Beers announced earlier this month that it would halt production at the Venetia for a period of two years to reduce costs and rephase capital expenditure on the Venetia underground project. The shutdown is expected to start in the second half of this year.

Meanwhile, in Canada, production increased to one-million carats, as the Gahcho Kué joint venture mine benefited from the planned processing of higher-grade ore from new mining area.

De Beers maintains its full-year production guidance at between 21-million and 26-million carats, as the impact of planned plant maintenance at Orapa and Jwaneng and the proposed production pause at Venetia in the second half is expected to reduce the full year production run-rate.

De Beers reiterates that it continues to monitor rough diamond trading conditions in order to align output with prevailing demand. Trading conditions had remained challenging in the first half of this year.

"The geopolitical and macroeconomic landscape remains uncertain, with the onset of the conflict in the Middle East adding to economic and consumer confidence risks. Synthetic lab-grown diamonds also continued to affect demand for lower-value natural diamonds, adding pressure in more price-sensitive categories. However, stronger pricing for higher-value goods supported a stable overall average price index throughout the period," the company says.

It notes that the consolidated average realised price declined by 32% year-on-year to $105/ct for the six months ended June 30, as a result of both a sales mix with a higher proportion of lower-value goods and a 16% decrease in the average rough price index.

Rough diamond sales for the second quarter decreased by 7% year-on-year to 7.1-million carats, while the revenue generated for the quarter was 44% lower year-on-year at $665-million.

For the half-year, rough diamond sales volumes increased by 20% year-on-year to 14.78-million carats, but sales revenue generated decreased by 23% year-on-year to $1.31-billion