Botswana Rough Diamond Exports Fall to $198 Mln

(IDEX Online News) – Botswana exported $197.7 million worth of rough diamonds in November, according to the Bank of Botswana. In the first 11 months of the year exports totaled $2.795 billion.

The decline in exports comes as De Beers curtailed production in response to lower global demand for diamonds. Debswana, De Beers' 50/50 joint venture with Botswana, is the main diamond miner in the African country.

In the third quarter of 2012, diamond production plunged by an estimated 39 percent.

According to Botswana's Central Statistics Office (CSO), the "hiccups" in diamond trade is caused by the relocation of DTC from London to Gaborone and that they have not been fully resolved. DTC is scheduled to move in 2014, however the sorting center has already operating in Gaborone.

CSO reports export figures at a delay of several months, the latest figures are of October 2012. In addition, there is a large gap between CSO and BoB figures. For October, CSO reported rough diamond exports of $478.2 million, while BoB reported $262.9 million.