Top diamond producer to halve output

Botswana, the world's largest diamond producer, will slash its output by more than half this year due to plummeting demand for the gems, the main diamond company announced Friday.
Debswana, jointly owned by the Botswana government and De Beers, said in a statement that the country was going to produce 15 million carats of diamonds, this year, against 33.6 million carats last year.
"As it stands now, the Diamond Trading Company Botswana (DTCB) have indicated that they might only be able to sell between 18 million carats and 20 million carats," corporate affairs manager Esther Kanaimba said.
"This year hence our decision to cut production to such levels as we also have some inventory left from the bad sales in December and November last year."
"If there are indications that demand will improve quickly, then we will increase production," she added.
DTCB was launched last year by Botswana's former president Festus Mogae in a move designed to boost local business and create jobs for citizens.