ANTWERP, Belgium (AP) — More ads, less gems: Top producers crafted emergency plans Monday to make sure that diamonds remain a girl’s best friend this Christmas, despite the economic gloom.

Traders, cutters, polishers and producers from the world’s top diamond hubs — including India, Israel, Dubai and China — held crisis talks in this Belgian city to keep the shine on their multibillion-dollar business.

A model holds the ‘Letseng Legacy’ diamond at the World Diamond Center in Antwerp, Belgium, in this Nov. 14, 2007

Industry leaders De Beers Group and Russian mining giant Alrosa announced plans to cut production of rough diamonds and to launch a massive media blitz in the United States to lure consumers back to jewelers and prevent a panicky markdown in prices.

Still, industry experts warned of a possible 15 percent drop in sales in North America next year, a 10 percent sales drop in Europe and a five percent drop in Japan.

The gloomy forecasts added to an already dismal situation for the industry, which only recently had been riding the luxury boom amid good times in China, the U.S. and Russia.

continue reading "Antwerp hosts emergency diamond talks amid slump"

For Antwerp, the world’s biggest gem trading hub, diamonds may not be its best friend after all.

Exports of uncut rocks from the square mile adjacent to the Belgian city’s central railway station plunged 36 percent to $619 million in October from a year earlier, according to the World Diamond Centre. Buying and selling has all but dried up this year after sales of Antwerp diamonds abroad rose 15 percent in 2007.

“There’s very, very little trading going on now,” said Philip Claes, a spokesman for the center, based close to the four gem trading exchanges squeezed into Antwerp’s narrow backstreets. “We’ve seen a dramatic decline.”

continue reading "Antwerp Finds Diamonds Aren’t Forever Amid Crisis and Tax Probe"

Russia’s largest diamond producer Alrosa  said on Wednesday net profits calculated to Russian Accounting Standards fell 62.3% year-on-year in January-September 2008 to 3.54 billion rubles ($131 million).

The company’s net profit in the third quarter of the year was 112.57 million rubles ($4.2 million), a 96.7% plunge year-on-year.

Alrosa, which accounts for 97% of Russian and 25% of global diamond output, produced diamonds worth $2.37 billion in 2007. The Russian government holds a 50.9% stake in the company.

By RIA Novosti

Alrosa said on Friday that it had already started cutting supplies of rough diamonds for sale to sightholders, or clients.

Alrosa spokesman Andrei Polyakov told PolishedPrices: “We will start reducing the volumes of rough diamond sales at the beginning of November. In fact, we’ve already started.”

The reason for the move, he said, is that nobody is buying.
As an alternative, giant diamonf miner Alrosa is considering diamond sales to the state stockpile agency, Gokhran.

“We definitely are not giving them the diamonds for free, but nobody understands what market price is normal now.” He noted that other diamond producers, including De Beers, are also cutting back on rough diamond sales.

continue reading "Alrosa Cuts Sale of Diamonds"

Russian diamond conglomerate Alrosa plans to prospect for diamonds in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This decision was concluded during a meeting between Alrosa Chief Executive Officer Sergei Vybornov and DRC President Joseph Kabila in Kinshasa.

In a framework of cooperation, Alrosa will carry out detailed exploration of a diamond deposit in the southern region of the DRC, says Alrosa.

Source: DIB

Calls by Russian diamond giant Alrosa for a industry regulator may not be all that they seem, says Felix Lowe

This industry needs more regulation,” proclaimed Sergey Vybornov, president of Alrosa, the world’s second largest diamond mining company, at its Moscow headquarters in May. “I don’t mean a kind of monopoly. I would call it a regulatory force,” he stressed.

Although these comments were intended to soothe an industry that is reeling as prospecting costs rise and high street sales of diamonds fall, such bullish rhetoric could have adverse implications – especially in the wake of the TNK-BP imbroglio, which has further damaged Russia’s reputation for dealings with foreign investors.

continue reading "A Diamond In The Rough"

Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has raised the long-term credit rating on the Russian Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) to ‘BB-’ from ‘B+’. The agency has simultaneously raised the Russian national scale rating to ‘ruAA-’ from ‘ruA+’, noting that the outlook is stable.

Sakha’s budgetary policy remains sensitive to the federal government’s decisions and to the profitability of Russian diamond monopoly Alrosa Co. Ltd. In 2008, almost 75 percent of Sakha’s budget revenues will likely come from the federal budget and Alrosa. Sakha’s budget composition is undergoing a transformation process, which could improve the stability of the republic’s budget. A loss of disputable annual rent payments from Alrosa, which accounted for about 20 percent of budget revenues in 2006 but will be discontinued in 2009, will be fully compensated by higher taxes on natural resources extraction and on property, royalties from Alrosa, and a transfer of some responsibilities to the federal government.

continue reading "S&P RAISES SAKHA REPUBLIC’S CREDIT RATINGS TO ‘BB-’"

Alrosa has released detailed results of the 30th Moscow auction of 10.8+ caraters.

Fewer auctions this year, combined with rising prices so far has meant higher revenue totals per auction, and also higher per carat value for the stones compared to the average for the five-year old auction series.

Results were down modestly, compared to last year. 

At the just completed auction, which ran through the month of July, 654 stones were sold, or a total of 10,300 carats, for an aggregate of $31 million.

The average stone size was 15.8 carats, while the average carat value realized was $3,010.

This is 48% above the average value of $2,034 per carat for the entire series of Alrosa’s Specials sales, which commenced in 2003.

Compared, however, with the results of the 23rd auction, held at the same time a year ago, revenues and average carat value are down.

According to Alrosa’s release of August 1, 2007, its 23rd auction realized a total of $36 million, for 11,400 carats in all, with an average $3,158 per carat.

In its latest release, the Russian state diamond company said that 41 bidding companies were registered for the July sale. They participants were from Russia, Belgium, Israel, India, and China. A year ago, 61 bidders registered for the sale, and they also included companies from Belarus,  UAE, Lebanon and the US.

The largest stone sold in this auction was 41.27 carats. Since 2003, the record average carat value at a single auction was achieved when Alrosa sold 1,800 carats at Antwerp in 2007 for a total of $18.5 million, and at an average carat value of $10,287/carat.

This time round, Alrosa says 104 lots originated from Alrosa mines, and 63 lots from the Nyurba mine - profit of which Alrosa shares with the Sakha republic government.

By John Helmer in Moscow

source : polished prices

RADWIN (http://www.radwin.com), a leading global provider of advanced wireless broadband solutions, today announced that ALROSA, Russia’s largest diamond mining and manufacturing company with a 25% share of the world’s rough diamond production, has deployed its wireless systems for VPN connectivity. RADWIN’s partner in Ural, Diapazon Consulting, provided project support.

RADWIN’s wireless broadband links are used to connect ALROSA’s dispersed buildings in the Yakutia mining excavation site, providing voice and data connectivity. The long-range and high-capacity systems eliminate costly leased lines charges and enable ALROSA to inexpensively deploy and control its network connectivity.

continue reading "RADWIN Chosen by ALROSA, Russia’s Largest Diamond Manufacturer"