The Diamond Trading Company sold approximately $750 million in rough diamonds on behalf of the De Beers diamond company at its October sight, Rough and Polished reports. The sales figures were the highest yet this year and relatively few lots remain unsold at the sight.



The success of the sight was in no small part due to the lengthy wait between sights, as previous sights had been cancelled due to insufficient demand. However, demand has not since recovered significantly, one sight participant told Rough and Polished, noting the difficulty at present to turn a decent profit on DTC boxes.



DTC lowered its prices by between 8% and 10% at its August sight, but warned that no other major changes should be expected in the near future.

 

De Beers chief executive officer Philippe Meiller said that production is below capacity and therefore sightholders should curtail their expectations, as not all applications are expected to be filled in the short term.