Alrosa (MCX:ALRS), the world's No.1 diamond producer by output, made $463 million only at the international auctions it held in five countries in 2018.
Following the publication of its overall sale results for the year, with rough and polished diamonds generating $4.5 billion, the Russian miner issued a press release highlighting the importance of the competitive sales it held abroad, especially those held in the United States following the reopening of its offices in New York.
Besides the North American country, Alrosa held auctions for special size rough diamonds that weigh over 10.8 carats, in Belgium, Israel, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates. Ramat Gan held most of the international auctions, with a total of six.
"International auctions are an integral part of our trading activity since large rough diamonds in accordance with Russian law should be sold only in this way. Large diamonds are usually in good demand in the market, so each of our auctions collects up to 100 participants. In general, we are pleased with the results of 2018, and we found opportunity to increase the number of auctions in 2019 to 37 against the background of stable demand," Evgeny Agureev, Director of the United Sales Organization at Alrosa, said in the media brief.
Agureev added that given the positive feedback received following the sales events in the Big Apple, the company decided to increase the number of auctions in the United States this year.
In total, Alrosa held 32 events last year but 15 of them were held locally in Moscow and in Vladivostok.