World diamond giant DB Investments (DBI), formerly De Beers, said today it had ushered in supply quotas in the face of a sharp downturn in global gem demand.
The announcement came after DBI reported a 15-per cent drop in first-half headline earnings of $744 million on the back of falling jewellery sales in the key US retail market.
DBI said global diamond sales in the first-half of 2001 were seven per cent down year-on-year in dollar terms and that there was a serious erosion of confidence in cutting centres.
A consortium led by Anglo and South Africa's Oppenheimer family bought out De Beers last May, after shareholders approved the group's $19 billion bid.
Anglo said DBI had reduced its stake in the world's biggest gold producer AngloGold to less than one per cent.