Angola Stockpiles 1m Carats as Sales Slump
September 06, 23
(IDEX Online) - Angola is stockpiling over a million carats as it waits for diamond prices to rise and sees its half-yearly sales fall by 37 per cent.
"In practice Angola has no buyers of this resource," said José Ganga Júnior, chairman of Endiama, the state diamond company, as reported by the Angolan news agency Angop.
"That's why we have to find ways to survive, using the creativity that is required."
He said the 1m carats would remain in storage until prices started rising.
Angola's diamond revenue for the first half of 2023 was $594.17m, a 37 per cent drop, according to the national director of mineral resources, Paulo Tanganha.
Total sales were 2.93m carats, with an average per carat price of $202.61.
Pic of Angolan rough diamonds, courtesy Endiama