Anglo American has warned that its De Beers diamond division will cut production further as a pullback in spending by Chinese consumers leaves the market facing a protracted depression. The pullback in output would add to already implemented plans to curtail production by 10 per cent at the world’s largest diamond mining company by value, which resulted in second-quarter output falling 15 per cent year on year to 6.4mn carats, according to an update on Thursday.
The prospect of deeper production cuts for diamonds came as the company laid bare the effects of other setbacks — which had been anticipated by analysts — in its second-quarter production update. Full-year guidance for metallurgical coal was downgraded from 15mn to 17mn tonnes to 14mn to 15.5mn tonnes after a fire broke out at Grosvenor, one of its Australian mines, putting it out of action for months.