According to a production report by Anglo American which owns De Beers, Botsswana's diamond production was down 6% in Q2 2024. While 5 million carats were mined in Q1 2024, this figure declined to 4.7 million in Q2 2024.
The decline is even more prominent when looking at production over the past year, with Q2 2024 seeing 19% less output than Q2 2023. H1 2024 also saw 24% less production compared to H1 2023. Jwaneng Mine on its own saw a sharp 25% and 36% decline in quarterly and yearly production respectively.
"In Botswana, production decreased, driven by intentional lower production from short-term changes in plant feed mix at Jwaneng to process existing surface stockpiles. Production at Orapa was broadly flat," said Anglo American.
"Demand for rough diamonds recovered slightly at the start of 2024 following the cessation of the voluntary moratorium on rough diamond imports into India in late 2023, and improved demand for diamond jewellery in the United States yearend retail selling season. However, with midstream polished inventories remaining higher than normal and continued cautious restocking from retailers, demand for rough diamonds deteriorated in the second quarter of the year. Market conditions are expected to reflect a protracted recovery in demand."
Botswana's slumping diamond production continues to impact its economic growth prospects, with the IMF recently revising down the southern African nation's 2024 growth to 1%.