Alrosa's 2017 rough and polished sales dip to $4.3bn

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Russian miner Alrosa’s diamond sales fell to $4.27-billion in 2017, from $4.45-billion in the previous year, as the average price of its rough diamonds dipped.

Reporting on the group’s 2017 sales figures, VP Yury Okoemov explained on Thursday that the average price of rough diamonds sold by Alrosa was “a little lower than a year ago”, owing to changes in its sales assortment resulting from the increased demand for small-sized rough diamonds from the Indian diamond cutting sector in the first half of 2017.

Overall, Okoemov said that the 2017 rough diamond market was “fairly stable” and that market activity was in line with seasonality and the group’s expectations.

Turning to 2018, Alrosa expects the market to be balanced and said that moderate global jewellery demand growth was forecast.

The group sold $4.27-billion worth of rough and polished diamonds in 2017.