De Beers to Allow Sightholders to Defer 25 Percent of Supply

Rapaport reported that De Beers plans to allow sightholders to defer as much as 25 percent of their supply at a sight planned for next week. The move comes as rough diamond sales continue to decline.
A De Beers notification states:

We appreciate that it is currently a quiet period for trading and at sight 6 all sightholders will therefore have the option to defer up to an additional 25 percent of their total allocation (excluding whole boxes of ex-plan), per [the] intention-to-offer delivery location.

As quoted in the market news:

De Beers enabled a similar mechanism in the first quarter, preferring to reduce supply and maintain stable rough prices than implement sharp price cuts. The company’s rough sales fell 28 percent year on year to $2.5 billion in the first half of 2015, according to Rapaport estimates ahead of official results scheduled for July 24.
Sightholders are expected to take up the option and reject a large volume of goods at the sight as manufacturing sentiment is weak. Indian cutters this week rejected a call for a one month ban on rough imports, opting instead to exert self-discipline in their individual rough buying in the ongoing sluggish market.

Click here to read the full Rapaport report.