ALROSA Group’s total sales of diamonds – both rough and polished – for December 2019 touched US$363.8 million marking an 11% increase year-on-year. December sales for the Company also broke out of the trough it had been in for most of the year (with the exception of March 2019: US$ 377.1 million; and February 2019: US$ 345.6 million).

Rough diamond sales in December 2019 by value amounted to US$352.1 million; while polished diamond sales stood at US$11.6 million.

For the full year 2019, from January to December, ALROSA’s total rough and polished amounted to US$3.338 billion. During this period, the Company sold rough diamonds worth US$3.273 billion; and polished diamonds amounting to US$64.7 million.

“In December, we observed signs of stabilising diamond demand that had emerged earlier in the second half of the year amid the gradual restoration of market balance,” said ALROSA Deputy CEO Evgeny Agureev. “This was largely supported by a flexible sales strategy of mining companies. Cutters and retailers entered 2019 with large stocks of goods, but their expectations of strong demand did not match the reality. Along with a number of other factors, this triggered a massive destocking while also hitting the demand for rough diamonds. As a result, 2019 saw sales by diamond producers drop by almost a third from the previous year. At the same time, there is robust demand for jewellery from end consumers. The preliminary data on Christmas sales shows its year-on-year growth in some regions. This proves that diamond jewellery remains a key way of expressing one’s special feelings.”