Russia’s Alrosa (MCX:ALRS), the world’s top diamond producer by output in carats, announced Tuesday that it will be holding two auctions of rough and polished diamonds within the Eastern Economic Forum, which will take place in Vladivostok on September 6 – 7, 2017.
“Large rough diamonds weighing over 10.8 carats are solely sold at auctions and are always in great demand. Diamonds of this size range are set up for the auction in Vladivostok. First auctions at our Far East trading platform were held during the EEF 2016. Based on the result of sales, we have seen the interest of clients from Asia Pacific,” the company’s Vice President, Yury Okoyomov, said in a press release.
In order to lure in clients, particularly from countries such as the US, China, India, Israel and Belgium, the state-owned miner started auctioning special size rough diamonds of 10.8+ carats on August 24. Some 45 stones have been put out for sale, the largest one weighing 75.75 carats.
The firm’s cutting and polishing division has also been working in advance and offering 36 polished diamonds from 2 to 12 carats in size. The biggest gem is a 12.18-carat emerald-cut diamond.
Up to June 2017, Alrosa’s sales had reached $2.5 billion. This figure represents a fall of 0.4 per cent compared to last year, but an increase of 14.8 per cent compared to 2015.
