(IDEX Online) - Alrosa today reported a slight rise in its monthly sales of rough and polished diamonds, in the face of continuing supply shortages.The Russian miner sold a total of $308m in October, up from a 2021 low of $298m in September, which is traditionally a quiet month. Sales in August were $306m.Alrosa is still struggling to meet unexpectedly high demand globally after the easing of Covid restrictions."Previously adequate supply of polished diamonds was covered from rough diamond inventories accumulated by miners during the downturn period," said Evgeny Agureev, Alrosa's deputy CEO."In the past few months, rough diamonds have been in short supply amid the structural cuts in diamond production (-20% vs the pre-pandemic level). "As end consumer demand for natural diamond jewelry remains high, ALROSA aims to gradually restore the supply and demand balance, despite the limited capacities to increase production."Total rough and polished diamond sales for the year to date are just under $3.6bn.Pic courtesy Alrosa