De Beers' Diamdel recently offered 514 lots of rough diamonds spanning the Large, +2 caraters, Grainers, Smalls and Near Gem product categories during its third cycle of auctions for 2012, held April 16-30, 2012.

Global demand for products in the Small and Near Gem categories have reportedly shown the greatest increases in recent weeks.

According to Diamdel, 158 different businesses bid at the auctions, which resulted in 511 lots being sold to 94 different buyers. No buyer won more than 23 (6 percent) of the lots sold, with non-DTC sightholders winning 59 percent of the goods sold by value.

"Global demand from rough diamond buyers for our products has steadily improved so far in 2012. This pick-up in demand is both broad based across the geographic markets we serve and across the product categories we offer," says Diamdel Chief Executive Officer Neil Ventura. "Demand from Indian-based businesses has shown the most robust growth so far this year, with a greater number of buyers committing more money to purchase products across the product range. Our near-term outlook for demand to continue to show improvement remains unchanged."