Petra Delays Sales of Cullinan Goods over Tariff Uncertainty
April 14, 25
(IDEX Online) - Petra has delayed the sale of around 200,000 carats from its Cullinan mine, in South Africa, until there is "greater clarity around the impact of the tariffs".
The UK-based miner made the announcement on Wednesday 9 April, the day US President Donald Trump said he was pausing the imposition of reciprocal tariffs for 90 days.
"The US tariffs announcement late last week has resulted in considerable diamond market uncertainty," the company said.
"In response to this, Petra has decided to postpone its Tender 5 sales for the Cullinan Mine (c. 200,000 carats)."
It said Cullinan had a history of experiencing product mix variability and the mine had recently yielded a lower number of gem quality stones than expected, specifically in the +10.8-carat category.
Tender 5 went ahead with goods from Petra's two other mines - Finsch (South Africa) and Williamson (Tanzania) - and saw average per carat prices increase 9 per cent, from $93 to $101, compared with its February tender.
Like-for-like prices were up 8 per cent. The balance of the increase was attributable to product mix.
Revenue was up 6 per cent, from $17m to $18m, on sales of a slightly smaller number of carats, down from 182,000 to 176,000.
Petra said total revenue YTD FY 2025 from rough diamond sales, excluding Cullinan goods, was $103m compared to $138m in the first five tenders of FY 2024, a drop of 25 per cent.
In February Petra posted a $69m net loss for the half-year to December 2024 and announced the resignation with immediate effect of its CEO Richard Duffy.
Pic shows Cullinan mine, South Africa.