A fall in luxury spending could push Anglo American to cut its diamond production further this year, complicating plans for a sale or stock market flotation of the trophy business. Anglo American said the recovery of the diamond market was expected to be “protracted”, with depressed demand from China and higher stockpiles being held by processing companies raising the possibility of another reduction in diamond production. “As a result, and together with our partners, we will continue to assess the options to reduce production going forward,” Duncan Wanblad, Anglo’s chief executive, said.
Rough diamond output declined by 25 per cent during the third quarter to 5.6 million carats, taking total production since the start of the year to 18.9 million carats, 21 per cent lower than a year earlier.
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