Photo by: Duane Daws
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Russian diamond major Alrosa on Thursday reported a 3.3% year-on-year increase in rough and polished diamond sales, in what is traditionally a low season for trading.
The company sold $257.6-million worth of diamonds in August, comprising rough diamond sales of $255.7-million and polished diamond sales of $1.9-million.
The latest sales figures compare with rough diamond sales of $286.1-million and polished sales of $7.4-million in July 2017, and rough diamond sales of $243-million and polished sales of $6.3-million in August 2016.
Between January and August 2017, rough and polished diamond sales amounted to $3.05-billion.
"August is traditionally low season for trading. This year was no exception, although sales volumes in August were slightly higher than a year earlier,” commented VP Yury Okoyomov.
On Tuesday, Anglo American subsidiary De Beers reported a decline in the value of rough diamond sales in its seventh sales cycle for the year, which represents sales at September 4. De Beers recorded a provisional $505-million in diamond sales during the seventh cycle, compared with $576-million in cycle six and $639-million in the comparative cycle seven in 2016.