Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Thursday, Feb 23, 2006
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, Feb 23, 2006 |
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Corporate
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Performance De Beers' group diamond output up 4 pc in 2005 Our Bureau
Mumbai , Feb. 22 DE Beers' group production for 2005, inclusive of joint ventures in Namibia and Botswana, was 49 million carats, an increase of 4 per cent over 2004. Debswana produced a record 31.9 million carats, an increase of 2 per cent over 2004. Namdeb's production of 1.8 million carats was 5 per cent lower than in 2004. De Beers' South African mines produced a total of 15.2 million carats, an increase of 1.4 million carats (10 per cent) on 2004, a release issued by De Beers said. De Beers' London-based Diamond Trading Co (DTC) sales were at a record $6,539 million, 15 per cent higher than in 2004, but without the favourable impact of the stockpile releases that took place in 2004, diamond account margins were lower. "Initial reports of retail sales of diamond jewellery for the full year indicate growth in the 6 per cent to 7 per cent range," the release said. Regional analysis indicates growth in all areas with the exception of Europe. The US had a satisfactory Christmas with overall annual growth in line with the world trend. The high-end independents and Internet retailers outperformed the market. Japan and the rest of Asia-Pacific grew in low single digits, with China doing better after the poor first half of the year. On the other hand, in Asia-Arabia there has been growth in double digits. During the year, DTC raised its rough diamond prices on two occasions, the cumulative effect of which was that sales by the DTC in 2005 were at prices, on average, 9.5 per cent higher than in 2004. For most of the year, demand for rough diamonds from the cutting centres was strong. In addition, the DTC successfully launched a suite of value-added services to clients. "Demand for rough diamonds continues to be steady. However, stocks of both rough and polished diamonds in the cutting centres were relatively high at the beginning of the New Year as were aggregate debt levels," the release said.
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