Chamwe Kaira
Anglo American has started an impairment review of De Beers’ carrying value, citing prolonged weakness in global diamond market conditions and continued pressure on the business’s financial performance.
De Beers is a 50/50 partner with the Namibian government in Debmarine, Namdeb and the Namibia Diamond Trading Company.
In a preliminary update for the second half of the 2025 financial year, Anglo American said underlying EBITDA from De Beers is expected to be negative for the full year. The group said this is due to difficult rough diamond trading conditions and lower realised prices.
“As a result, the impairment review is assessing whether current diamond market dynamics could lead to a reduction in the book value of the diamond business at the full-year results,” the company said.
Anglo American said the review comes amid weak demand across the diamond value chain, geopolitical and tariff uncertainty, and stock rebalancing actions taken by De Beers during the year.
The group said the average rough diamond price index for 2025 fell 12% year on year, while the consolidated average realised price declined 7% to US$142 per carat.
Rough diamond production for the full year dropped 12% to 21.7 million carats, from 24.7 million carats in 2024. Fourth-quarter production declined 35% year on year to 3.8 million carats, reflecting a planned response to market conditions and scheduled maintenance at key operations.
In Botswana, production fell 56% in the fourth quarter to 1.9 million carats after Jwaneng was offline for the entire quarter due to planned maintenance. Orapa also shut down for maintenance in October.
Namibia’s production declined 21% to 0.5 million carats. Anglo American said this was due to vessel maintenance, extended in-port time to install new subsea crawler technology, and the decommissioning of two vessels earlier in the year.
In South Africa, production fell 10% following planned plant maintenance. Output in Canada increased as Gahcho Kué accessed new ore after waste stripping.
Anglo American said rough diamond trading conditions remained weak in the fourth quarter, despite consolidated sales volumes rising to 5.4 million carats and sales revenue increasing to US$571 million. The group said the revenue increase was driven by higher volumes rather than improved prices, with sales weighted toward lower-value diamonds.
The group said stock rebalancing actions in 2025 had a significant impact on prices. It said that when these actions are included, the effective price index decline would be about 25% year on year. These factors continue to weigh on profitability and form a key part of the impairment assessment.
In response to market conditions, De Beers has revised its 2026 production guidance to between 21 million and 26 million carats, down from a previous range of 26 million to 29 million carats. Anglo American said De Beers will continue to align production with demand while focusing on cost control and operational flexibility.
Anglo American also said it is continuing with a dual-track separation of De Beers, including a structured sale process, as part of its portfolio simplification strategy.
The outcome of the impairment review will be reflected in the group’s full-year results once the assessment of market conditions and future cash flow assumptions is complete.
