Angola: Rough diamond auction raises almost €20M

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Angola: Rough diamond auction raises almost €20M

7:59 CAT | 26 Jul 2024

Screen grab: TPA

SODIAM, Angola’s national diamond trading company, raised $21.6 million (€19.9 million) with the sale of 2,974.24 carats of special stones, according to the public company.

In a press release to which Lusa had access, the company said that 46 special stones from rough diamond production by the SOMILUANA, LULO, KAIXEPA, LUELE and CATOCA mining companies were auctioned off on Wednesday.

According to the document, the evaluation sessions took place from the 15th to the 23rd of this month at SODIAM’s premises in Luanda, and bids were submitted electronically until 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

All the stones presented for auction were sold, says SODIAM, generating revenues of $12.4 million (€11.4 million) for Sociedade Mineira do LULO, the highest among the companies, followed by Sociedade Mineira do CATOCA with $4.6 million (€4.2 million).

Sociedade Mineira do KAIXEPA raised $2.6 million (€2.4 million) and Sociedade Mineira do LUELE $1.1 million (€1 million), while Sociedade Mineira do SOMILUANA pocketed $838,000 (around €774,000).

The auction was attended by 36 companies representing the world’s main diamond markets and centres.

SODIAM’s Commercialisation Director, José Neves Silva, quoted in the statement, said that ‘the last three months have clearly shown that the international diamond market is showing weak demand and high stock levels in the main diamond centres, as a result of various endogenous and exogenous factors in the world diamond industry that have influenced the market since last year’.

José Neves Silva emphasised that the participating mining companies considered the results of this tenth auction to be ‘encouraging’, exceeding their expectations, ‘which gives some relief to the pressure on their current cash management’.

‘Despite the challenges faced, SODIAM will continue to monitor the international market with great attention and expectation, reinforcing its institutional commitment to continue adding value to the national diamond industry in general and to the Angolan economy in particular,’ he added.