Alrosa, the world’s biggest diamond producer by volume, said on Tuesday that rough diamond prices had rebounded to precrisis levels by early August, and stressed that it would service “real demand only”.
The Russian diamond producer stated that jewellery demand remained robust in July, following a strong first half of the year, when it increased by an average of 35% and 15% in the US and China, respectively.
“Heading into the second half of the year, the retailers note continued optimism among consumers and their increased interest in diamond jewellery. This continues to support strong demand for rough diamonds from the midstream, which faced supply shortages as early as May to June 2021, when miners saw their inventories drop to record-low levels,” said deputy CEO Evgeny Agureev.
“At the moment, the pricing policy presents the only solution to balancing demand and supply. As a responsible market player, Alrosa will seek to support the demand and supply balance by servicing the real demand only,” he added.
Alrosa’s sales of rough and polished diamonds in July totalled $334-million, including proceeds from rough diamond sales of $318-million and polished sales of $15-million. This was lower than the $410-million reported in June.
For the seven months of 2021, total rough diamond and polished sales accounted for $2.67-billion, including $2.55-billion of rough diamond sales and $122-million of polished.