Russia’s Alrosa sees nearly tenfold surge in diamond sales amid growing demand from India

In May, Russia’s top gem miner, Alrosa, saw more than a ninefold year-on-year surge in sales of rough diamonds. At the same time, sales of polished diamonds increased by nearly fivefold, according to the producer.

In monetary terms, the world’s leading diamond-mining company by volume sold $346-million-worth of rough diamonds and $19-million-worth of polished gems.

At the same time, the overall May sales, which amounted to $365 million marked a decline of 9% compared to the previous month.

The company reportedly sold $1,926-million-worth of rough and polished diamond in the first five months of the current year compared to the $960-million proceeds recorded in the same period in 2020.

“Our May sales results demonstrate strong demand coming from Indian midstream,” said Evgeny Agureev, the company’s deputy CEO.

The executive added that their cutters and polishers had fully adapted and were able to process all available volumes of rough diamonds despite the epidemiological situation.

“End demand for diamond jewelry remains robust in all key regions. For the first four months of the year, jewelry sales exceeded the pre-Covid levels of 2019 by 30% in the USA and by 10% in China,” he said.

Alrosa is in the top three of the world’s largest diamond miners, as its share in the global diamond output hovers at around 25%. The Angolan company Catoca, 41% of which belongs to Alrosa, mines 6% of the world’s output. In Russia, Alrosa operates in the Yakutia Republic and in the Arkhangelsk Region.

Its market capitalization makes up nearly $9.5 billion, and its public float totals 34%, with 33% owned by the Russian Federation. Yakutia owns another 33% of the company’s shares.

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