Russian mining giant Alrosa has published its sales of rough and polished diamonds for December 2020, raking in $521.6 million (compared to $363.8 million in December 2019).
December’s rough diamond sales totaled $470.3 million while polished diamond sales totaled $51.2 million. In 2020 (January to December) Alrosa raked in $2.802 billion (compared to $3.338 billion in sales in 2019), including $2.652 million of rough diamond sales and $150 million of polished gems.
Evgeny Agureev, Deputy CEO of Alrosa, said that the company expects “January sales to return to their average for this period” and that demand and sales are expected to be stable in the first quarter of 2021. He added: “Strong sales of rough and polished diamonds by ALROSA in December were driven by the continued strong demand from the midstream as well as by one-off factors. In particular, revenue from the sale of polished diamonds was additionally supported by the sale of the previously accumulated stock and proceeds from the unique Spirit of the Rose diamond sale. High sales of rough diamonds in December generally reflected the current level of market demand. ALROSA continues to maintain maximum flexibility in satisfying only confirmed demand for rough diamonds, especially from the cutting and polishing sector”.