De Beers and other mining firms slash diamond prices

London

SLACK demand and difficult trading conditions in the diamond industry are forcing De Beers, Alrosa and other mining companies to slash prices.

In its latest annual report, Russian company Alrosa, which produces 36 million carats a year or around 27 per cent of global supplies of rough diamonds, said the market began deteriorating in the second half of last year. (A carat equals 0.2 gram).

The decline in demand for polished diamonds, higher inventories of both rough and polished diamonds at cutting enterprises in Antwerp, Mumbai, Tel Aviv and other centres plus inadequate bank finance are aggravating factors.

Other reasons for price weakness, according to Antwerp dealers and analysts, are the increase in the production of synthetic "grown diamonds" and …