In a press release, to which Lusa had access, the company states that 46 special stones from rough diamond production by SOMILUANA, LULO, KAIXEPA, LUELE AND CATOCA were auctioned this Wednesday.
According to the document, the evaluation sessions took place from the 15th to the 23rd of this month, at Sodiam's facilities in Luanda, with bids being submitted electronically, until 10am on Wednesday.
All the stones presented for auction were sold, says Sodiam, generating revenue of 12.4 million dollars for Sociedade Mineira do LULO, the highest among companies, followed by Sociedade Mineira do CATOCA with 4.6 million dollars.
The Sociedade Mineira do KAIXEPA raised 2.6 million dollars and the Sociedade Mineira do LUELE raised 1.1 million dollars, while the Sociedade Mineira do SOMILUANA pocketed 838 thousand dollars.
36 companies participated in the auction, representing the main diamond markets and centers in the world.
Sodiam's Marketing Administrator, José Neves Silva, quoted in the statement, said that “the last three months have clearly demonstrated that the international diamond market has weak demand and high stock levels in the main markets, as a result of several endogenous and exogenous factors to the global diamond industry that have been influencing the market since last year”.
José Neves Silva highlighted that the participating companies from Minas Gerais considered the results of this tenth auction to be “encouraging”, exceeding their expectations, “which gives some relief to the pressure on their current treasury management”.
“Despite the challenges faced, Sodiam will continue to monitor the international market with great attention and expectation, reinforcing its institutional commitment to continue adding value to the national diamond industry in general and to the Angolan economy in particular”, he highlighted.
