Alrosa's June Sales Dip to $31m
July 12, 20
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa reported another poor trading month in June, with sales of rough and polished totaling just $31.3m.
That compares with $222.4m of like-for-like sales in June 2019.
The Russian state-owned miner has revised down its production forecasts, postponed its July and August sales, suffered an 87 pr cent drop in profits and is pursuing a price-over-volume strategy as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
Alrosa sold $24.8m of rough diamonds in June and $6.5m of polished.
Total sales for the first six months of 2020 total sales were $991.1m - $955.3m of rough and $35.8m of polished.
Overall rough and polished sales hit a low in April - just $15.6m - and rose in May to $40.1m but dipped again last month.
"June sales were expectedly low, as we continue making every effort to maintain stability of the diamond industry and support our customers," said Alrosa's deputy CEO Evgeny Agureev.
He said the company had offered particularly flexible terms to long-term buyers in the last three months.
However a number have reportedly broken their contracts with Alrosa, complaining that they can defer but not cancel their purchases.
Pic courtesy Alrosa