De Beers inactivity Spells local Gloom

Govt set to lose over P16 billion in diamond revenue

In response to the impact of Covid-19, De Beers has drastically reduced its production guidance for the year.

Initially, De Beers had set a target of mining between 32-34 million carats for 2020. The figure has since been scaled down to between 25-27 million carats due to the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus, which has led to a temporary shut down of virtually all industries.

Having suffered a disastrous 2019, the industry appeared to be gaining momentum in the early stages of 2020.

However, these roots of recovery have now gro...