De Beers’ diamond  sales for the first sight or sales cycle of 2020 indicated the market may have stabilised, and could even be improving. Sales totalled $545m which compares to $426m in the previous sales cycle – the last of 2019 – and the $500m achieved in the first cycle of 2019. “Demand for rough diamonds increased during the first sight of 2020 following the end of year selling season and subsequent inventory restocking,” said Bruce Cleaver, CEO of De Beers in a statement to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. “This is the first positive year-on-year sales growth after ten cycles of negative year-on-year growth,” said RMB Morgan Stanley in a report. The bank said that based on the sales number today, there was a 2% upside to its diamond sales forecast for 2020 of $4,32bn which compares to 2019’s $4,04bn.