Anglo American's De Beers Saw Increased Demand in First 2018 Sales

Anglo American PLC's (AAL.LN) majority-owned De Beers Group said Tuesday that demand for rough diamonds increased in the first sales cycle of 2018 compared with the previous cycle.

De Beers, he world's largest rough-diamond producer by value, said that provisional diamond sales in the first cycle on Jan. 29 grew to $665 million, up from $455 million in the tenth sales cycle of 2017.

Sales for the first cycle of 2017 were $729 million, a period De Beers's CEO Bruce Cleaver said benefited from purchases that had been deferred from late in 2016.

Write to Oliver Griffin at oliver.griffin@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 30, 2018 02:35 ET (07:35 GMT)