Russian diamond miner Alrosa in February sold rough and polished diamonds worth $345-million, which was up 23% compared with January’s sales of $281-million, but down significantly on the $541.9-million sold a year earlier.
Rough diamond sales in February comprised $340-million, compared with $278-million in January, while polished diamond sales comprised $5-million, compared with $3.4-million in January.
“We see Indian mid-streamers actively gradually recovering, despite some challenges that were hampering access to bank financing for the industry in India. This sentiment is particularly noticeable for small- and medium-sized rough diamonds.
“The company has moderately optimistic expectations of further smooth growth in demand and market activity,” said Alrosa CEO Sergey Ivanov in a statement on Thursday.
The value of Alrosa’s diamond sales for 2019 to date is $627-million.
Alrosa competes with Anglo American’s De Beers, which is the biggest seller of rough diamonds by value. De Beers sold rough diamonds worth $490-million in its second cycle of the year and also reported an increase in demand from India as factories started to restock.