The company, which this year is entitled to sell 14% of Botswana's rough diamonds, sold just over 1 million carats of stones for $193 million.
The Okavango Diamond Company (ODC) in Botswana, established to sell a portion of the country's diamonds separately from Debswana, recorded a plunge of 20% in diamond sales from a year before in January-May.
The firm, owned by the Botswana government, said the fall was a result of a weak rough diamond market and a reduction in output by diamond producer Debswana – a joint venture owned by De Beers and the Botswana government.
Okavango will next year reach the maximum share of Debswana’s rough diamond output at 15 percent under the terms of an agreement signed by Botswana and De Beers in 2011.
