Diamonds 2021: Agility in the face of crisis

The diamond industry was already under pressure before 2020, and the situation was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which compelled the major miners to adopt a price-over-volume strategy and take steps to support the midstream segment. They reduced production by 20% and allowed customers to postpone purchases, and when demand recovered in the third quarter of 2020, the major miners lowered rough diamond prices by 10%. Consumer demand received a further boost from strong holiday jewellery sales in December 2020, and 2021 has thus far proved to be a success for all segments of the diamond value chain, with miners achieving record sales, midstream margins growing amid high prices and jewellery sales exceeding previous forecasts. Creamer Media’s ‘Diamonds 2021: Agility in the face of crisis’ report provides an overview of the world diamond market amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The report highlights rough diamond production, supply and demand, imports and exports, the production of synthetic diamonds, as well as the responsible sourcing of diamonds. The report has a specific emphasis on diamond mining activities in South Africa over the past 12 months, and provides updates on the country’s major and midtier diamond producers, junior diamond mining companies, explorers and developers.