2018 saw another well performing year for the diamond industry as a whole, with the value of global rough diamond output growing by 2% to $14.47 billion, despite a number of key players in the market declaring a fall in recoveries.
The Kimberley Process (KP) whom compiled the data are a reputable source of information within the diamond market, being that they are a multilateral trade regime established in 2003, representing no fewer than 82 nations.
KP reported that the average price per carat increased 4% overall to $97 per carat, despite a 2% decline in production volume to 148.4 million carats worldwide.
Declining Outputs for Russia and Australia
Russia remained the world’s principal source of rough, despite its recoveries falling 3% to $3.98 billion. Australia saw output fall 18% to 14.1 million carats, largely due to the decline of the Argyle mine which is set to close in 2020
Botswana and Canada Perform Well
Botswana was largely responsible for the overall increase in global value, with the nation’s output rising 6% to $3.53 billion and 24.4 million carats for the year, with production in Canada also increasing 2% to $2.1 billion. Strong performance from Botswana allowed them to overtake Canada as the second-largest producer by volume, after dropping into third place in 2017.
Top 10 Rough Producers in 2018
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