Angola Sees Rise in Diamond Revenue

RAPAPORT... Revenue from Angola's national diamond-trading company,Sodiam, rose 3.9% year on year in the second quarter, with the government separately noting an increase in prices. Prices of Angola's diamonds have increased since the implementation of the country's new, more competitive diamond-trading policy last year, the government said in a Facebook post last week. That program allows miners to offer 60% of their production to clients of their choice. Proceeds for the three months ending June 30 came to $232.8million from the sale of 1.5 million carats of rough diamonds, at an averageprice of $155 per carat, the company added in another post the same day. Compared with the previous quarter, revenue decreased by$135.8 million as Catoca, Angola's largestproducer, did not sell its April output. National production for the quarter slipped 4.2% versus the same period a year ago. Catocacontributes approximately 80% of the total. "[Catoca's April production] will be commercialized and willbe reflected in the next quarter," explained J??nio Corr??a V?-ctor, the secretaryof state for geology and mines. "There will be no impact on state revenue." Image: The Catoca mine. (Alrosa)