ALROSA announced yesterday that its first diamond auction in New York this year fetched a total revenue of US$ 11.8 million, the highest amount from a single auction in the US since sales in that country resumed last year.

The Company said that it sold 107 stones of special size rough diamonds (over 10.8 carats) amounting to a total weight of 1,900 carats, with the final total revenue exceeding the opening bids by 50 per cent.

Over 30 firms from the largest international trade centers, such as the USA, Israel, Belgium, India and the UAE participated in the auction, ALROSA said.

"We held the first auction this year in the United States, selling almost 90% of the auctioned stones. In general, the market today is experiencing an increase in activity and interest in our products remains stable. We invited about 20 American companies to this auction and some of them participated. The overall sales exceeded the total opening bid by 50%, amounting to US$ 11.8 million. Today this is the highest revenue from single auction since we resumed the operations of our USA office, which is now headed by Rebecca Foerster," said Evgeny Agureev, Member of the Management Board, Director of the United Selling Organization at ALROSA.

Last year, ALROSA resumed its operations in New York and held two diamond auctions there, with overall revenue amounting to US$ 18.3 million. The company's auction schedule for 2019 includes four auctions in the United States.