ALROSA’s total diamond sales – of both rough and polished -- for July 2018 rose by 16% y-o-y to US$ 339.1 million.

Rough diamond sales for the period amounted to US$ 333.8 million; and polished diamond sales stood at US$ 5.3 million.

In the seven months from January to July 2018, the Company’s total diamond sales increased by 9% y-o-y to US$ 3.029 billion.

For the seven-month period, rough diamonds worth US$ 2.973 billion were sold; while sales of polished diamonds touched US$ 55.3 million.

“Compared to last year, demand for rough diamonds remains more balanced – almost all diamond categories benefit from continued demand in key markets globally,” commented ALROSA Deputy CEO Yury Okoemov. “In July, there was a minor seasonal softening on the market in the run up to August holidays, but not as intensive as last year. Demand for expensive high-quality diamonds kept being strong during seven months.”

Meanwhile, ALROSA also announced that its group company Diamonds ALROSA (the Company’s cutting and polishing division) held a polished diamond tender in New York, after a gap of several years, in July. It was also the first tender for polished diamonds after the reopening of ALROSA’s office in New York.

In total, 111 stones of standard colour with total weight of 308.97 carats were sold, ALROSA stated, raising a total revenue of US$ 1.5 million. 

Pavel Vinikhin, director of DIAMONDS ALROSA, commented: “We brought to New York polished diamonds of various cuts, weighing from 2 to 6 carats. We were pleased to see great interest from American buyers, especially given the fact that this was our first tender in the US after a long break. We also succeeded in attracting new clients, and by the end of this year, we hope to hold one more tender, where we will bring a more interesting assortment.”