De Beers secretly sells discounted diamonds to selected traders
De Beers has been quietly selling rough diamonds at sharply marked-down prices to a small handful of customers, in a highly unusual move that’s fuelling tensions across an industry already mired in crisis. The secret deals appear aimed at reducing De Beers’s ballooning inventories without openly cutting prices — something the company typically tries to avoid, but which has led to a big gap between its official pricing and valuations in the wider diamond market. De Beers usually holds ten sales in Botswana each year for its roughly 70 registered buyers, where prices are non-negotiable.
De Beers has been quietly selling rough diamonds at sharply marked-down prices to a small handful of customers, in a highly unusual move that’s fuelling tensions across an industry already mired in crisis. The secret deals appear aimed at reducing De Beers’s ballooning inventories without openly cutting prices — something the company typically tries to avoid, but which has led to a big gap between its official pricing and valuations in the wider diamond market. De Beers usually holds ten sales in Botswana each year for its roughly 70 registered buyers, where prices are non-negotiable.
