De Beers has confirmed that Sight 5 will take place as planned, and aims to provide viewings in Hong Kong, Antwerp and Dubai for Sight holders who can't get to Botswana.
The move comes after Sight 4, held as usual in Gabarone in early May, saw sales activity virtually wiped out by COVID-19 and the resulting travel restrictions. Sight 3, at the end of March, was canceled altogether.
"The plans we are working on will enable our customers who are unable to travel to Botswana due to travel restrictions to view goods in other locations should they wish to," a De Beers spokesman told IDEX Online.
De Beers, which produces a quarter of the world's diamonds will hold Sight 5 in Botswana from 15 June to 19 June, with additional viewings in three major diamond hubs, Antwerp, Hong Kong and Dubai as a temporary measure. All sales will still go through Botswana.
"If we can move our product closer to them it would give us the flexibility to restart sales as soon as the markets reopen," De Beers executive vice president, diamond trading, Paul Rowley told a media briefing earlier, before extra venues for Sight 5 were confirmed.
De Beers sells 90 per cent of its total supply from Botswana, and the country's economy relies heavily on diamond sales.
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the company recently launched an online platform to sell its rough diamonds, in addition to its online sales.
