ALROSA Group, the world’s largest volume producer of rough diamonds, reported a seasonal drop in rough diamond sales during the month of July on the eve of the August holiday period. Rough diamond sales for the month were US$ 286.1 million, while polished sales were US$ 7.4 million, for a monthly total of US$ 293.5 million, the miner said.

Cumulative sales for the first seven months of the year were US$ 2.79 billion. This included rough diamond sales of US$ 2.728 billion and polished diamond sales of US$ 62.3 million.

ALROSA Vice President Yury Okoemov commented, “In July, there was a seasonal drop in demand on the market in the run up to August holidays. A good demand for rough diamonds with an upward trend in prices was demonstrated in the first half of the year. The Company cut down the stock accumulated by the start of the year.”