BlueRock's Full-Year Sales Soar

RAPAPORT... Sales of rough at BlueRock Diamonds more than doubled in 2021 as strong demand drove up the average price for its goods.Revenue came to GBP 7.8 million ($9.5 million), compared with GBP 3.6 million ($4.4 million) the year before, BlueRock said last week. The average price surged 59% year on year to $470 per carat. Although the average price in 2020 was lower than usual amid the Covid-19 pandemic, 2021's figure was still 13% higher than in 2019, BlueRock noted.The company, which operates the Kareevlei deposit in South Africa, also recovered a higher proportion of high-value large stones, it said. During the year, BlueRock sold 12 of those for a total of $1.8 million, the largest of which was a 58-carat diamond, a record for the mine.Those sales outweighed losses stemming from equipment failure, shutdowns due to the virus, and heavy rain. The company's loss narrowed from GBP 3 million ($3.6 million) in 2020 to GBP 1.3 million ($1.6 million) last year."The diamond market recovered well in 2021," the company noted. "Since the end of the year, the market was initially volatile, with a big spike in prices in February, largely linked to the Ukraine situation. It has since stabilized, but at prices significantly higher than our average for 2021. We expect the supply side of quality diamonds, [such] as those recovered by Kareevlei, to remain tight for the foreseeable future, with the ongoing conflict in Ukraine affecting the supply of rough diamonds."The company's average price has exceeded $600 per carat for 2022 to date, 29% higher than for 2021, BlueRock added.Image: Rough diamonds from the Kareevlei mine. (BlueRock Diamonds)