Anglo American Plc's diamonds subsidiary, De Beers SA, sold US$418 million worth of rough diamonds in its 10th sales cycle of 2016.

The ninth sales cycle in 2016 resulted in sales of US$476 million, while the 10th sales cycle in 2015 had sales of US$248 million, according to the Dec. 13 release.

De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver said in the statement that India's demonetization program has caused a temporary slowdown in the trade for lower-value rough diamonds, but "overall sales remained in line with seasonal expectations."