Petra Diamonds saw robust rough diamond sales at its latest tender in June 2022, signifying continued market recovery and a strong year for the company.

Petra sold 569,496 carats of rough diamonds for a total of US$93 million at its sixth tender, representing an increase of 8.01 per cent from tender 5 in May 2022. This brings the company’s total sales for fiscal year 2022 ending in June 30 to US$584.5 million, up 43.64 per cent from US$406.9 million in FY 2021.

Richard Duffy, CEO of Petra, said tender 6 results concluded a strong year for Petra in terms of pricing and demand. He added, “The significant interest shown at tender 6 bears testament to the ongoing strength of the rough diamond market. We have seen pricing support across our product mix, with particular strength in the prices of both white and coloured gem-quality stones over the last 12 months.”

Like-for-like rough diamond prices grew 7.7 per cent on tender 5 while full year like-for-like prices rose 41.5 per cent compared to FY 2021, with the balance of price movement attributable to product mix. Strong demand, with resulting price increases, was evident across all size and quality categories, the company said.

Revenue from so-called exceptional stones totalled US$89 million in FY 2022 – US$75.2 million from Cullinan Mine and US$13.8 million from Williamson – compared to US$62 million a year ago. Petra classifies exceptional stones as those fetching US$5 million or more each.