Alrosa Cuts Number of Diamond Buyers, Reports
March 26, 08
Alrosa, the Russian diamond giant, has reduced the number of its rough diamond clients this month, mostly dropping smaller volume clients, according to recent reports. The move is in line with the company’s decision to have a short list of regular buyers.
According to an Interfax report, Alrosa stopped selling to companies that “front for major concerns” and buyers that buy less than $1 million worth of rough diamonds a month.
As reported on IDEX Online in June 2007, Alrosa is planning a “sight” system that was expected to be put in place by 2008. According to the plan, Alrosa will have a number of regular clients that can purchase $100-$250 million a year.
Clients will have to agree to a price formula set in the agreement between them and Alrosa. “We will share with our clients earnings from price increases,” Alrosa President and CEO Sergey Vybornov told IDEX Online. “But they will also have to take share in price decreases.”
At the time, Vybornov said that three year contracts will start in early 2008, after certain contractual sales obligations expire.
However, nearly four months into the year, many large global diamond companies are still unsure about what stage the new system is at, or what shape the final agreement will take.