Alrosa has announced its sales from rough and polished diamonds in August, reporting a total of $181.8 million – more than the $170.5 million it made in July, but less than any other month since January of 2019. Rough diamond sales by value amounted to $180.2 million in August, while polished diamond sales totaled $1.5 million.
In January-August 2019, Alrosa’s total rough and polished diamond sales amounted to $2.163.6 billion – $2.129 billion in rough, $34.6 million in polished diamonds.
Evgeny Agureev, Director of the United Selling Organization ALROSA, said: “The diamond market is still experiencing headwinds from both macroeconomic and industry specific factors, which have an adverse impact on the midstream. There is also a seasonal slowdown weighing on the summer sales. Meanwhile, for the first time since 2010, August sales were higher than in July – mainly due to the replenishment of stock by diamond cutters and polishers. Besides, a regular trade session in August started later than usual, so that some sales recognition were moved to September. It is still too early to come to firm conclusions based upon it. However, we are still expecting that after a significant decrease in rough diamond supply by major diamond producers since the beginning of the year, the excess stock in the system is decreasing. This will help to restore supply and demand balance which should not take too long”.
