De Beers and diamond production
World demand for diamond stays healthy in spite of the increasingly slowing world economic conditions. Even the Chinese economy shows signs of slowing down, but the demand for diamonds stays at a level equal to the previous year. In addition to China, De Beers’ major markets include the U.S., Japan and India. The De Beers Diamond Jewelers is expanding its sales activities in the United Arab Emirates.
DeBeers, the world’s largest diamond mining and rough diamond production company has a partnership with the Government of the Republic Botswana known as Debswana. De Beers has relocated its Diamond Trading Company headquarters to Botswana’s capitol of Gaborone. As a result, the Government of the Republic of Botswana owns about 15 percent of the DeBeers. One of the smallest countries in the African continent, Botswana is home to 2 million people. The partnership is responsible for one-fourth of the world supply of diamonds and it generates more than one-third of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In addition to Botswana, De Beers mine diamonds in Canada, South Africa, and Namibia.
During the first six months of 2012, DeBeers earned a gross of $3.3 billion. De Beers mined approximately 13.4 million carats during the same time period.