The world’s largest diamond miner by volume, Russia’s Alrosa, has sold about $700-million worth of diamonds less in the first five months of this year, than in the same period last year, highlighting the pressure that the diamond market is under amid a supply glut.
Sales for the January to May period amounted to $1.59-billion, comprising rough diamonds of $1.56-billion and polished diamonds of $24.1-million. This compares with total sales of $2.3-billion in 2018 and $2.13-billion in 2017.
Alrosa sold $266-million worth of rough and polished diamonds in May, $318.7-million in April, $377.1-million in March, $345.6-million in February and $281.6-million in January.
The mining company reported that India’s cutting and polishing sector still faced financing challenges, which were holding back the growth in demand for diamond products. However, while retailers’ stock levels remained “quite high”, Alrosa United Selling Organisation director Evgeny Agureev said on Monday that the stock level was declining.
He also noted that global diamond production fell by about 4% in the first quarter of this year.