GABORONE, Botswana: Rough diamond trading conditions remained challenging throughout 2025 amid persistent industry, geopolitical, and tariff uncertainty, Xinhua reported, citing a De Beers Group report published on Friday.
A lower average rough price index and stock rebalancing initiatives had a significant impact on earnings, resulting in an underlying loss of USD511 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation, Niranjan Mylvaganam, the group’s chief financial officer of diamond trading, said during the 2025 financial results media roundtable in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana.
“Sales impacted by a range of headwinds and the declining price environment mean sales came at a significant cost to De Beers,” he said.
Polished wholesale diamond prices had shown signs of stabilisation early in the year, but sentiment weakened sharply following the introduction of United States (US) tariffs on Indian exports, he said.
For his part, De Beers Executive Vice President of Diamond Trading, Paul Rowley, said the industry faced a “perfect storm” but is setting foundations for recovery.
Near-term trading conditions are expected to remain challenging.
Continued macro-economic volatility, conservative inventory management in the midstream, and laboratory-grown diamond penetration are expected to limit rough diamond demand in the near term, according to the report. – BERNAMA-XINHUA
