De Beers’ Q2 Production Rose, but Prices at Sights Fell Sharply

By Karen Dybis | July 23, 2026

De Beers Group’s rough diamond production nearly doubled in the second quarter, but weak demand and lower prices dragged down overall results.

At 7.8 million carats, De Beers’ second-quarter diamond production was up 88% compared with the period last year, the company’s owner Anglo American reported Thursday. It attributed the increase partly to “the planned mining of higher-grade ore at both Jwaneng in Botswana and Gahcho Kué in Canada.”

Sales revenue from De Beers’ three Q2 sights totaled $665 million, a 44% decrease from last year’s $1.2 billion, according to the report. Per-carat average sales price fell around 37%, from $174 to $110.

De Beers’ second-quarter rough diamond sales for its three sights totaled 7.1 million carats, down from 7.6 million carats in the same period last year, the report said.

For the first two quarters of 2026 combined, De Beers’ diamond production rose 46%, to 14.914 million carats, from the first half of 2025. But consolidated average realized price declined 32% year-over-year in the first half, to $105 per carat. Anglo American said the drop resulted from a higher proportion of lower-value goods in its sales mix and a 16% decrease in the average rough price index.

In the trading performance section of the production report, Anglo American noted that conditions were “challenging,” but “stronger pricing for higher-value goods supported a stable overall average price index” during the first half of 2026.

“The geopolitical and macroeconomic landscape remains uncertain, with the onset of the conflict in the Middle East adding to economic and consumer confidence risks,” the report said. “Synthetic lab-grown diamonds also continued to affect demand for lower-value natural diamonds, adding pressure in more price-sensitive categories.”

The quarterly report made only a brief reference to Anglo American’s sale of De Beers. “We are also progressing the sale process for De Beers, while concurrently advancing streamlining opportunities to improve cost performance and reduce capital expenditure to minimize the impact from challenging diamond markets,” Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad said in a statement.

According to stories late last week by Bloomberg and other media, a winning bidder for De Beers has been selected, most likely the consortium led by former De Beers CEO Gareth Penny.

Reacting to Anglo’s quarterly report, outlets including Rapaport and Discovery Alert focused on De Beers’ probable first-half loss and also noted the Penny development. Discovery Alert, which covers the mining industry, mentioned the prospect of Botswana negotiating to increase its stake in De Beers during the sales process. The country’s government currently owns 15% of De Beers, to Anglo America’s 85%.

“The Botswana right-of-first-refusal process introduces a layer of deal uncertainty that markets will monitor closely. If Botswana elects to exercise this right, either directly or through a third-party vehicle, it could meaningfully alter both the timeline and the structure of the eventual De Beers transaction,” Discovery Alert wrote.

Botswana’s second-quarter diamond production for De Beers increased to nearly 5.5 million carats, more than double the 2.65 million carats in Q2 the previous year, according to Anglo’s report. The company said the large rise was due to “extended maintenance” at the Orapa mine as well as Jwaneng’s planned mining of higher-grade ore, “to optimize plant throughput.”

Planned maintenance at Orapa and Jwaneng during the second half of the year “is expected to substantially decrease production levels from current rates,” Anglo American wrote.

South Africa production, at the Venetia mine, increased 24% year-over-year in the second quarter, to 0.7 million carats, as a result of processing higher volumes of underground ore, the Anglo report said. (De Beers announced earlier this month that it would pause production at Venetia starting in the second half of the year.) In Namibia, De Beers production was virtually unchanged from the prior year’s second quarter, at just over half a million carats.

For Canada, Anglo reported that “planned processing of higher-grade ore from the new mining area” at Gahcho Kué mine led to a 185% increase in production for the second quarter, to 1 million carats.

Anglo said De Beers’ full-year overall production guidance for 2026 is “unchanged,” at 21 to 26 million carats. “De Beers continues to monitor rough diamond trading conditions in order to align output with prevailing demand,” the report said.

(Photo courtesy of De Beers)