03 Aug 2026

De Beers shrank its underlying first-half loss by 23 per cent to $188 million in 2026 under the backdrop of a significantly challenging climate driven by a weak global demand and competition from lab grown synthetic diamonds. 

Speaking at a media briefing in Gaborone on Thursday, De Beers Group Chief Finance officer, Mr Paul Rowley confirmed that the rebound was largely attributed to Botswana’s output of 10.3 million carats, causing a 46 per cent production surge to an overall group output to 14.9 million carats.

“The group’s sharp recovery stems from the significant contribution from Botswana’s production through Jwaneng’s higher-grade ore mining, combined with the return of normal operations at the Orapa mine following a prolonged period of shutdown since 2025,” he said. 

A significant increase in production, however did not mitigate against loss as the mining giant still recorded an underlying Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation (EBITDA) loss of $113 million and an underlying net loss of $188 million for the first half of 2026. 

Despite the challenging industry conditions, De Beers was encouraged by signals of traction as a result of its high-impact marketing campaigns which resulted in retailers seeing a growth in natural diamond demand especially in the US market. 

“Global marketing campaigns of the National Development Council sees more industry players stepping up to support efforts that continue to boost consumer demand through highlighting extraordinary stories of beneficiation of the people and communities within the diamond regions,” highlighted Mr Rowley. 

Additionally, Mr Rowley acknowledged the significant progress made by the Botswana Government and De Beers Group with implementing their formal long-term agreements featuring a 25-year mining license extension for Debswana, a 10-year sales agreement, and the creation of a Diamonds for Development Fund. These updated pacts replace prior terms to secure mutual economic growth.

“The average realised price of diamonds declined due to a combination of a lower price index and a sales mix containing more of the smaller, lower value diamonds. 

However, we continue to monitor capital expenditure carefully together with unit costs, with the significant streamlining of the business supporting the lower cost base,” advised Mr Niranjan Mylvaganam, De Beers Group Chief Financial Officer Diamond Trading.

Despite these significant strides, De Beers remains cautious of the impact of the Middle-East geo-political tensions and lab-grown synthetic diamonds which continue to be challenges that need to be kept on track. 

According to De Beers, the future outlook projects that near term rough diamond trading will continue to be affected by economic uncertainty however, supply discipline, marketing investments and evolving retail dynamics for synthetic diamonds, which are expected to support a gradual recovery in trading conditions in the medium term. ENDS