ODC suspends sales, Lucara stays the course

The decision is yet another indicator of the pressures in the diamond market after the most challenging year since 2019, with falling prices and consumer demand.

ODC’s announcement this week echoes a recent decision by De Beers to give its rough diamond buyers full flexibility in their allocations for the last two auctions of the year. Prior to that, Indian cutting and polishing firms, which process 80% of the world’s rough diamonds, had announced a two-month suspension of imports.