De Beers held its biggest rough diamond sale so far this year in August as diamond prices improved, RBC Capital Markets said, citing cutters and polishers it didn’t identify, Bloomberg reported.



De Beers probably sold diamonds worth as much as $475 million at its seventh sale, analyst Des Kilalea said in a note to clients dated yesterday.



That brings diamond sales at the Diamond Trading Co., De Beers’ trading arm, to about $2.2 billion this year, the lowest “in more than 20 years,” he wrote.



De Beers spokeswoman Lynette Gould couldn’t immediately comment when Bloomberg News contacted her by phone in London.



De Beers expects diamond demand to improve in the second half, it said on July 24, according to the report. The company, which is 45% owned by Anglo American Plc, slashed output as first half sales dropped 57% to $1.4 billion, it said.

Recession cut diamond demand in the US, which accounts for about half of global diamond retail sales. Prices have increased about 6.8% during the past three months, according to an index compiled by PolishedPrices, the report said.



“Resilient” diamond prices could “reflect the need of the cutting and polishing factories to ensure they have sufficient stock for the Indian festival of Diwali and the important Christmas season in the world’s largest market, the US,” Kilalea said in the note.



RBC is forecasting DTC’s sales at $2.8 billion to $3 billion this year.