Alrosa set to Sell More Rough to Government
March 09, 25
(IDEX Online) - The Russian government could buy more rough diamonds from the state-run miner Alrosa, as it faces ongoing G7 sanctions and weak global demand.
The Finance Ministry says it will assess the situation after seeing second quarter results.
Alrosa last week reported a 77 per cent slump in profits for 2024 (down to $223m) and has said it could suspend some less profitable activities and lay off some of its 35,000 workers.
"As we have already said, it is possible that Gokhran will buy some of the stones, said Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Moiseyev, according to a report by the privately-run Interfax news agency.
"At this stage, we are still observing the market dynamics, indeed, it is quite weak, but not much time has passed. In principle, the first quarter is rarely good."
Alrosa has previously offloaded excess inventory to Gokhran, the Russian State Precious Metals and Gemstones Repository in times of weak demand.
During the financial crisis of 2009 Gokhran bought up $1bn of Alrosa's diamonds. And it sold back millions of carats in 2022, when a surge in post-lockdown demand outstripped the miner's production capacities.
Last November it said it would be selling a batch of rough diamonds, including its largest recovery in a decade - an irregular-shaped diamond weighing 390.7 carats (pictured).