Okavango Diamond Company (ODC) has halted all rough sales as global demand remains at record low levels.
It says it has cancelled its November auction and may do likewise in December.
“For the first time, we have had to build up inventory as we do not want to just irresponsibly release goods into a market which is already oversupplied,” managing director Mmetla Masire said in an interview reported by Reuters.
“For now, we have stopped the auctions, we will decide on the December auction.”
The move by Botswana’s state-owned company follows a two-month moratorium announced by Russia’s Alrosa in September, as well as a voluntary two-month ban on rough purchases by industry bodies in India.
ODC currently sells a quarter of the 24m carats produced annually by Debswana, a partnership between the government and De Beers, although that figure will rise to 50 per cent over the decade under a new agreement.
In March the Botswana government said it would be supplying ODC diamonds to HB Antwerp for five years, as part of its investment in the company.
It later said it would have to reconsider, after Candian miner Lucara pulled out of a 10-year deal with HB.
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