ALROSA Weighs Direct Diamond Supply to India
February 17, 16
(IDEX Online News) – ALROSA president Andrey Zharkov said that ALROSA is investigating the possibility of direct diamond sales from Russia to India, according to an interview in The Economic Times.
Zharkov said that ideally ALROSA would have a presence in the proposed special notified zone for the diamond industry in Surat. He added that Russian law does not permit the imposition of variable prices to suit Indian manufacturers – as pricing has to be consistent across all markets.
The ALROSA president highlighted that although 2015 was a challenging year for the diamond industry – with diamond prices falling 15 percent as demand, particularly from China fell – it fared relatively well compared with other commodities such as oil and metals, whose prices slumped by 30 percent to 40 percent.
Zharkov said that consumption could be put under pressure by poor economic performance, drawing comparisons between the weakening of the ruble and the rupee. “Prices will go up in India if the rupee weakens further [and] this may weaken demand.”