(IDEX Online) - Alrosa reported a 49 per cent fall in profits last year as the pandemic hit demand and forced the closure of its less profitable mines.But Q4 showed strong indications of a recovery, with revenue, earnings and profit all significantly up.The Russian state-owned miner saw 2020 profits tumble from $850m to $432m and output was down 22 per cent to 30m carats.It said increased sales in Q4 had allowed it to repay $275m of bank loans early and reschedule other debts.Alrosa, the world's biggest diamond supplier by volume, sold 32.1m of diamonds, down four per cent from 2019, it said in its Q4 and 12M 2020 IFRS results published yesterday.Alexey Philippovskiy, Alrosa's CFO, said: "In Q4, we saw a continued recovery in demand for diamonds primarily driven by steady demand for diamond jewelry from end consumers. "At the end of 2020 and during the Christmas holiday season, sales in the key US and China markets were growing at double-digit rates y-o-y."Alrosa has increased its 2021 production forecast to 31.5m carats, from 28m-30m. Its diamond stockpile stood at 20.7m carats at the end of 2020.Pic courtesy Alrosa