The miner has benefitted from sanctions imposed on its Russian rival Alrosa (MCX: ALRS), despite a slight production decrease in the second quarter of the year.
While De Beers produces relatively few small diamonds, the type Alrosa specializes in, the company has seen revenue from diamonds sales jump since April. That was when Alrosa was first targeted by US sanctions related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Delivering second quarter production results, Anglo American said ongoing sanctions along with decisions by several US jewellery businesses to restrict purchases of Russian diamonds, have the “potential to underpin continued robust demand.”
De Beers sells its gems through 10 sales each year in Botswana’s capital, Gaborone, and the handpicked buyers — known as sightholders — generally must accept the price and the quantities offered.
Around 60 handpicked customers are given a black and yellow box each time. These contain plastic bags filled with stones, with the number of boxes and quality of diamonds depending on what the buyer and De Beers had agreed to in an annual allocation.
