De Beers’ December Sight Valued at $580 Million

Rapaport reported that De Beers’ December sight had an estimated value of $580 million, the highest since the first quarter of this year.

The increase may be due to sightholders trying to purchase enough product to keep their operations going until the next sight; it is not set to begin until January 20.

As quoted in the market news:

‘People don’t have rough and realized that they won’t be getting more De Beers goods until the first week of February, after the next sight. So they bought more than usual last week,’ said a Mumbai-based sightholder. ‘Companies have increased their factory operations after Diwali and there isn’t enough rough in the market.’

Some suggested that tighter bank credit expected to take effect in 2014 also influenced sightholders to buy more goods in December, while they have access to the additional financing.

Click here to read the full Rapaport report.