Key Takeaways:
- De Beers rough diamond prices fell 32% to $105 per carat in H1 2026
- Anglo American is selling its 85% stake, with ~$1 billion deal talks underway
Atrás
Anglo CEO admits De Beers misjudged lab-grown threat, prices fall 32%
Rough diamond prices fell 32% to $105 per carat in H1, below pandemic levels, as Anglo CEO admitted the industry misjudged lab-grown competition.
"Hindsight would probably show that we might have wanted to have been a little bit more aggressive on the signals we were getting," Duncan Wanblad, chief executive of Anglo American, told the Financial Times. He acknowledged the industry had expected a quick rebound from what proved to be a structural shift in consumer demand.
De Beers posted a $113 million cash loss in the first half, while Anglo American's group underlying earnings rose a third to $4 billion on stronger copper prices. The company has impaired De Beers three times over three years and is pursuing a sale of its 85% stake as part of a restructuring ahead of a merger with Teck Resources.
About a fifth of natural diamond supply is expected to exit the market within 12 months, Wanblad said, with few operations returning. A consortium led by former De Beers CEO Gareth Penny has discussed a roughly $1 billion deal, though Anglo said no preferred bidder has been chosen.
The $105 Per Carat Reality: Structural, Not Cyclical
The admission reflects a fundamental misreading of the market. Some in the industry blamed weak marketing for the shift toward cheaper synthetic stones, but retailers have benefited from rising volumes and stronger margins on lab-grown diamonds, according to the FT report. The channel itself is not damaged — the damage is to natural diamond pricing power and market share.
Wanblad said hindsight is easier than real-time judgment, but the industry spent years treating a structural change as a self-correcting cycle. The $105 per carat average in H1 2026 sits below even the pandemic-hit first half of 2020, a comparison that shows the severity of the decline. The price collapse is industry-wide, affecting all natural diamond producers, not just De Beers.
Venetia Paused, Lightbox Shut: 20% of Supply Exits
De Beers has already paused output at its Venetia mine in South Africa, one of the world's largest diamond operations, and shut its own lab-grown unit, Lightbox — a symbolic retreat from a product line the company once used to segment the market and protect its natural diamond brand.
The sale process is advancing, with no exclusive arrangement with any buyer, Wanblad said. Beyond the Penny-led consortium, two other bidding groups are led by Nir Livnat, executive chairman of Diacore Group, and Michael O'Keeffe, non-executive chairman of Burgundy Diamond Mines, according to people familiar with the matter.
The roughly $1 billion price tag represents a fraction of De Beers' historical valuation, which peaked at $18 billion, according to media reports. The divestiture would allow Anglo American to focus on copper, where stronger prices lifted group earnings a third to $4 billion in H1.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
[1] Anglo American CEO: De Beers Misjudged the Impact of Lab-Grown Diamonds, Expected a Quick Recovery After the Shock[2] Anglo boss admits diamond industry misread lab-grown threat - Miningmx[3] Natural Diamonds Have a Lab-Grown Problem. The Former De Beers CEO Is Betting $1 Billion on a Comeback[4] How Africa's diamond giant, De Beers fell from an $18 billion empire to a $1 billion sale[5] Diamond giant De Beers in talks for $1B sale to consortium - fraction of previous worth due to plummeting demand: report
Características
© 2026 Edgen impulsado por