Alrosa Sees Upturn in Small-Stone Demand

RAPAPORT... Alrosa noted an improvement in demand for lower-value roughin November, even as total diamond sales dropped. Proceeds slid 18% year on year to $274 million for themonth, the miner said Monday. However, sales value and volume were higher thanin October, which "may be indicative of strengthening demand for low-cost,small-sized rough diamonds, which has been declining over the past few months,"Alrosa deputy CEO Yury Okoemov said. "We still see a lot of potential for the increase in demandfor rough diamonds from the Indian diamond-cutting sector, which is stillhaving trouble with access to credit," Okoemov added. Rough-diamond sales fell 18% to $266.6 million for themonth, according to Rapaport calculations, while polished revenue slipped 12%to $8.4 million. Alrosa sells about 70% of its rough diamonds through its AlrosaAlliance contract sales, with auctions and private sales accounting for therest. Proceeds from its large-stone auctions in November included $17 million froma sale in Israel, $10.3 million at an auction in Vladivostok, Russia, and $9.5million from an event in Dubai. Meanwhile, a polished auction in Israel duringthe month grossed $2.9 million. Total sales rose 3.7% to $4.2 billion for the first 11months of the year, Alrosa said. Revenue from rough diamonds grew 4% to $4.1billion, while polished sales climbed 3.4% to $90.4 million, according toRapaport calculations.Image: Diamond sorting. (Alrosa)