ALROSA

Bloomberg: Russia’s Top Diamond Miner Set Sales Record as Economy Recovered

Russia’s ALROSA, which controls more than a quarter of global diamond sales, just completed its best year ever for selling the gemstone, beating the previous high set in 2017.

“Last year was a record year in sales as we sold 45.6
million carats of diamonds,” Evgeny Agureev, the company’s chief
of sales, said in an interview. He added that a large portion of
figure was the result of selling from inventories.

While initially hit hard by the pandemic, diamonds have
proved one of the more resilient industries. Stuck-at-home
consumers have continued to buy stones, while competing luxuries
such as travel have declined due to coronavirus restrictions.
That demand has kept up as the global economy has recovered,
with strong sales in the key markets like the U.S. and China.

“The holiday season in the U.S. shows that the market is
still very good,” Agureev said. “We expect that this year the
U.S. market will grow about 50% compared to 2019, and in China
the sales also continue to show strong growth.”

The company’s stockpiles fell to 8.4 million carats last
year, near a record low, so sales this year won’t be as dramatic
as they were in 2021, he said. ALROSA said earlier that it may
produce as much as 35 million carats in 2022.

Global diamonds supplies will remain limited this year,
with worldwide output forecast at as much as 120 million carats,
compared with 150 million in 2019, according to Agureev. “It is
important for the market to find a balance between price growth
and stable demand

ALROSA names a diamond after heroine Kyndykan in honour of the project supporting indigenous peoples of the Far North

The company has given a large, newly mined yellow-brown 91.86 carat diamond the name Kyndykan in honour of an Even* folklore heroine. Kyndykan was a little girl who was miraculously found alive 200 years ago by Yakut hunters near the Verkhoyansk Mountains in an ancestral settlement completely wiped out by smallpox.

The Kyndykan diamond has a yellow-brown colour and measures 25х16х22 mm. It was mined in 2021 at one of the alluvial diamond deposits at Diamonds of Анастасия Тикуноваbar, a subsidiary of ALROSA which operates across the vast Arctic territory of Yakutia. The indigenous peoples of the North traditionally inhabited this region. The diamond was found in the Olenyok district, one of the coldest regions in the northern hemisphere.

Kyndykan has become a symbol of the resilience, spiritual strength and unique values of the indigenous peoples of the Far North. The story inspired ALROSA to support a project also named Kyndykan, which aims to draw attention globally to the problem of preserving the traditions and culture of the indigenous peoples.

*The Evens are one of the indigenous peoples of Yakutiya

ALROSA presents renewed approach to selecting ALROSA ALLIANCE members

ALROSA has presented its customers with a new concept of creating a list of partners eligible for signing long-term agreements and new rough diamonds allocation principles, which will be relevant for the 2022–2024 contract period. Based on the lessons learned during the 2019 and 2020 crises, this approach takes into account the business specifics of different types of rough diamond buyers. It will prevent volatility and dependence on outside factors in the diamond industry, reinforcing stability.

Read the details here: http://eng.alrosa.ru/alrosa-presents-renewed-approach-to-selecting-alrosa-alliance-members/

ALROSA continues to cater to clients’ demand

Acting for the benefit of its long-term clients, who struggle to fulfil current orders due to shortages of rough diamonds, ALROSA purchased more than 80% of the diamonds offered by the Russian Ministry of Finance at an auction held on September 7.

“The Gokhran auction on September 7 demonstrates the Russian State’s continued support of the diamond market’s supply and demand balance. Current demand for medium and small-size goods that were tendered is strong. Experts from the Russian State Fund for Precious Metals and Stones (Gokhran) have done an excellent job to quickly prepare and organize this auction just in time. The number of participants was the highest on record, guaranteeing the fairest possible price level and ensuring that it was on par with the market. Just like in July, ALROSA purchased rough diamonds on behalf of its trusted clients – ALROSA ALLIANCE members. By participating in the Gokhran auction, we were able to partially compensate the diamonds shortage amid strong demand from clients,” said Evgeny Agureev, Deputy CEO of ALROSA.

ALROSA takes steps to cater its clients demand

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26 July 2021 – ALROSA remains committed to its strategy focused on maintaining a healthy balance in the diamond market, which faces supply shortages as jewellery demand keep recovering, while global diamond supply structurally decreased. A timely auction to sell diamonds from the Russian State Fund for Precious Metals and Stones (Gokhran) has supported the company’s progress against this strategy.

Global diamond inventories dropped to their historic lows as a result of the structural decline in the global diamonds production starting from 2020. The market has been plagued by acute shortages of rough diamonds needed by cutters to complete their current polished diamonds orders, which have renewed their historical highs.

In anticipation of the next trading session scheduled for Monday, 26 July, ALROSA, acting for the benefit and on the instruction of its long-term customers, purchased some 70% of the diamonds offered by the Russian Ministry of Finance at an extra auction held on 23 July. The government decided to hold this auction to contribute to the market balance auctioning diamonds from Gokhran.

“Given a physical lack of diamonds in the market and mindful of all the pandemic-related challenges and restrictions, ALROSA elected to give comfort to members of ALROSA ALLIANCE, its long-term trusted customers, by purchasing the auctioned Gokhran diamonds as they asked. Still, even with this step we will be able to satisfy only some of the demand at the upcoming session. The government takes a very responsible approach to selling diamonds from Gokhran and only offers them against real demand. These diamonds are what the market needs right now, and they will soon move on to the cutting and polishing stage, which we believe will somewhat contribute to balance the market. I would also like to mention Gokhran's role in making this auction possible. Despite the tight schedule, they managed to do everything smoothly and without delay,” said Evgeny Agureev, Deputy CEO of ALROSA

ALROSA ALLIANCE brings together the company’s long-term customers and those who are likely to become ones as they adhere to responsible business principles and have a proven track record as responsible buyers of rough diamonds. Traditionally, long-term contracts have accounted for about 70% of ALROSA’s diamond sales.

Gokhran operates under the Ministry of Finance as a fund that includes precious metals and stones, as well as items made from them. As part of its activities, Gokhran buys and sells valuables, such as rough diamonds produced in Russia.

https://gjepc.org/solitaire/evgeny-agureev-fundamentals-are-strong-for-rough-price-growth/

ALROSA’S direct sales to Indian customers increased from $580 million in 2019 to $619 million in a challenging 2020, accounting for 21% of its total sales last year, reveals Evgeny Agureev, Deputy CEO of ALROSA. In an exclusive e-mail interview with Solitaire, Agureev notes that the removal of taxation-related trade barriers could further augment the Indo-Russian diamond business.

Evgeny Agureev: Fundamentals Are Strong For Rough Price Growth ALROSA’S direct sales to Indian customers increased from $580 million in 2019 to $619 million in a challenging 2020, accounting for 21% of its total sales last year, reveals Evgeny Agureev, Deputy CEO of ALROSA. In an exclusive e-mail interview with Solitaire, Agureev notes that the removal of tax...

Rapaport: GIA sees spike in synthetics fraud

GIA has seen a rise in submissions of lab-grown diamonds with counterfeit inscriptions that make the stones appear natural.
Clients using the GIA’s update or verification services are increasingly sending in goods that prove to be synthetic, the organization said Monday. These stones have falsified girdle engravings that reference a genuine natural-diamond report number, while most have almost identical measurements and weights to the natural diamonds they mimic.

In a recent case, someone submitted a 3.075-carat, H-color, VVS2-clarity, triple-Ex, lab-grown diamond to GIA Antwerp for an update. The stone carried a report for a 3.078-carat, G-color, internally flawless, triple-Ex natural diamond. The synthetic stone’s real-life dimensions were within hundredths of millimeters of the measurements in the natural-diamond report, the GIA noted.
“This unfortunate situation demonstrates why it is important, especially in any transaction where the buyer does not have a trusted relationship with the seller, to have the diamond-grading report updated before completing a purchase,” said Tom Moses, the GIA’s executive vice president and chief laboratory and research officer.

We remind that ALROSA has an in-house production: we mine diamonds and then cut them, which guarantees the natural origin of polished diamonds we sell. Each polished diamond on the digital platform https://alrosadiamond.ru/en/ has a digital passport with the details about the territory it was mined, details of cutting and polishing, and the characteristics of the polished diamond