According to a statement from the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, to which VerAngola had access, the data was released this Wednesday by the person responsible in the presentation of the balance of achievements in the production, commercialization and export of diamonds for the first half of this year.
At the time, Miguel Vemba reported that the diamonds were sold at an average price of 191 million dollars per carat.
"In the first half of 2024, the diamond subsector raised approximately 608.84 million dollars, resulting from the sale of 3.18 million carats at an average price of 191 million dollars per carat, whose destinations were the United Arab Emirates (86.411 per percent), Belgium (13.533 percent) and Botswana (0.056 percent)", says the note.
Furthermore, he also made it known that production decreased by 20 percent compared to the National Development Plan (PDN), "with a total of 5.66 million carats recovered against 6.98 million planned".
Regarding tax contributions, Miguel Vemba said that "an increase of three percent of revenues in royalties and taxes was recorded, compared to the same period last year, with a total of 45.55 million dollars".
In relation to the workforce, the subsector currently has a total of 22,927 workers, 18,316 direct and 4611 indirect.
For the second half of the year, the production of 8.8 million carats of diamonds is expected, says the note.
The event was opened by the Secretary of State for Mineral Resources, Jânio Correia Victor, who, on the occasion, explained that "in recent years, the international market has been volatile, characterized by low prices for rough natural diamonds, resulting from the slowdown global economy and decreasing demand, excess inventories and growing popularity of synthetic diamonds".
"Strengthening the legal framework and improving the regulatory environment have also been fundamental in attracting investments to this subsector and these efforts are aligned with the objectives and priorities defined in the PDN 2023-2027, as well as with other planning and governance instruments of the country", said the secretary, quoted in the statement.
