De Beers’ rough diamond sales for the first cycle of the year improved significantly to $540-million, compared with $248-million in the final sales cycle of 2015. The miner on Tuesday said a positive holiday season in the US from a retail perspective, low levels of rough diamond purchases by the midstream in the fourth quarter of 2015 and a subsequent reduction in manufacturing had led to polished diamond stocks pulling through the pipeline, resulting in firmer prices for polished diamonds.
