Indian rough diamond demand lifts Alrosa's sales in May

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Jun 14, 2021

Russian group of diamond mining companies Alrosa attributed its sales of rough and polished diamonds reaching $365 million (Rs 2,428 crore) in May to steady Indian midstream demand.

Although Alrosa’s May sales total was a 9% month-on-month decrease compared to its April 2021 sales, the total was a marked year-on-year increase compared to May last year when sales had totalled $40.1 million. Alrosa’s May sales consisted of rough diamond sales totalling $346 million and polished diamond sales totalling $19 million.

“Our May sales results demonstrate strong demand coming from Indian midstream,” said Alrosa’s deputy CEO Evgeny Agureev, the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council reported. “Despite the epidemiological situation in April and early May, which demonstrates substantial improvement since then, cutters and polishers fully (adapted) and are able to process all available volumes of rough diamonds. End-demand for diamond jewellery remains robust in all key regions. For the first four months of the year jewellery sales exceeded pre-Covid levels of 2019 by 30% in the U.S., and by 10% in China.”

As lockdown restrictions in many areas of India are beginning to ease, jewellery businesses are reopening and jewellery manufacturing is gaining momentum again. Should this trend continue, Indian diamond demand could remain steady or increase further.