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London - De Beers, the world’s biggest diamond producer, boosted sales of the gems in its latest offering as customers began stocking up for the holiday season later this year.
The Anglo American unit sold $630m of rough diamonds in its seventh offering this year, up from $528m in the previous sale, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. Rough stones are those which haven’t been cut or polished.
"We saw healthy demand for our rough diamonds," De Beers chief executive officer Bruce Cleaver said in the statement. "Manufacturers brought forward some of their demand in order to cut and polish rough diamonds in time for the important retail selling season."
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The diamond industry is seasonal, with the holiday period from Thanksgiving in November through the Lunar New Year in Asia in January or early February the busiest period for jewellery sales.
Rough-diamond prices have rebounded 4.7% this year after De Beers and rival Alrosa PJSC cut off supply to try to support the market.
The stones slumped 18% in 2015 as slowing Chinese demand and an industry-wide credit crunch curbed purchases.
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