De Beers, the world's largest diamond mining company, is expected to end the year 2009 with rough diamond production levels at 50% of the previous year.
According to an interim production report by Anglo American plc, which holds 45% stake in De Beers, the mining major produced 14.4 million carat diamonds in the first three quarters of calendar year 2009, 61% lower than the production in the corresponding period last year.
In line with strong demand for rough diamonds in the last couple of months, De Beers' production in the third quarter stood at 7.88 million carats, which was 43 % higher than the second quarter.
De Beers' total diamond production in 2008 was 48.13 million carat. It is likely to mine around 10 million carat in the last quarter to reach half of last year's production levels.
The miner had shut down several mines and controlled production at other mines late last year and early this year in wake of poor demand for rough diamonds due to the economic slump.
However, with the economic situation showing sings of improvement in from the last few months, De Beers restarted production at Orapa and Jwaneng mines in Botswana and also resumed operations in South Africa in the third quarter.
“De Beers had kept production levels low in the first half of the year due to low demand for rough diamonds. However, it has increased productions since July when demand started to improve. The company is expected to end the year with total production of around 24 - 25 million carats," a diamond industry analyst said.
This is even as optimism of good months ahead is on the rise in Surat diamond industry. Expecting good orders before Christmas, diamond cutting units
are observing a short
Diwali vacation of only two weeks this year. In fact, some units have already restarted operations observing only a 10-day vacation. The trading bazaars in Mahidharpura and Varachha will also restart from next week.
The mad rush for rough by Indian diamantaires is another sign of improved sentiment in the diamond industry. It is expected that majority of the units will reopen by the end of this week or by early next week.
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