De Beers reduced first-quarter diamond production by 91%, according to Anglo American Plc, as the world economic slump cut demand for luxury goods, Bloomberg reported.



Diamond production slid to 1.08 million carats from 11.8 million carats a year earlier, London-based Anglo, which owns 45% of De Beers, said, according to the report.



“For the rest of the year, De Beers’s diamond production should be considerably higher,” Johann Pretorius, an analyst at Nedcor Securities in Johannesburg who advises buying Anglo shares told Bloomberg.



De Beers’s Debswana venture, which accounts for about 65% of group diamond output, this month restarted operations in Botswana, where it suspended mines in February, the report said.



While diamond prices remain 30 to 40% lower than a year ago, De Beers’s production cut would have reduced stocks, “which will be good for the industry,” Pretorius said.



Anglo suspended dividends this year for the first time since the outbreak of World War II and halted share buybacks to conserve cash as metal and mineral prices fell. It joined larger rivals BHP and Rio Tinto Plc in curbing expansion plans and firing workers, the report said.



Anglo also said today it secured $4.7 billion of financing and now has more than $9 billion in cash and bank facilities.