Demand for diamonds stabilising - De Beers

"Consumption has not improved to anywhere near the levels that we are accustomed to, but the abrupt rate at which it was dropping has started to stabilise," she told Johannesburg's Financial Times newspaper."We are seeing an improvement in the level of sales and the availability of finance to our clients as the pace of recovery quickens," she added.

In an interview on CNN last week, De Beers' Chairman Nicky Oppenheimer said demand for diamonds was "most probably" outstripping supply and that De Beers wants to produce as many diamonds as possible.