Gaborone: De Beers sold $530 million of rough diamonds at its July (6th) cycle amid a seasonal slowdown in the market, the company said Tuesday.

“Demand for De Beers’ rough diamonds was in line with expectations during the seasonally quieter summer period for the industry’s midstream sector,” said CEO Bruce Cleaver.

Revenue from the sixth sales cycle, including last week’s sight, dropped 9% from $581 million during the previous cycle. Proceeds fell 8% versus a year ago.

De Beers’ rough sales slipped 2% to $3.42 billion in its first six sales of the year, according to Rapaport calculations. Rough-diamond sales were flat in the first half of the year at $2.9 billion, the miner reported last week.