Alrosa’s diamond production drops 7% in H1 2014

Mining giant Alrosa’s diamond production dipped in the first half of 2014, by 7 percent (on y-o-y basis) and stood at 15.9 million carats. The company attributed this drop mainly to planned annual maintenance works at Processing Plants No. 8 of Aikhal Division and No.12 of Udachny Division.

The company noted production rose 2.3 times in H1 2014 at Severalmaz following the launch of the second module of the site’s processing plant, and it confirms the previously announced mining guidance of 36 million carats for ALROSA in 2014.

In H1 2014, Alrosa sold 21.1 million carats of diamonds, revenue from rough diamond sales grew by 13 percent (on y-o-y basis) and amounted to $2.7 billion.

The company notes a positive performance of the diamond market during H1 2014 with rough diamond prices going up by around 6 percent since the beginning of the year. In the second quarter of 2014, ALROSA sold 8.4 million carats of diamonds, including 6.1 million carats of gem-quality diamonds with an average price of $200 per carat, and 2.3 million carats of industrial diamonds with an average price of $11 per carat.