Russia Partners with Belarus

Russia is joining forces with its ally Belarus to promote jewelry exports to China, the UAE, Vietnam, and Southeast Asia, in response to G7 sanctions.

The collaboration was agreed last Friday (4 April) after Russia’s deputy finance minister Alexei Moiseyev (pictured) met Belarus’s finance minister Yury Seliverstov in the Belarus capital, Minsk.

Both sides discussed further developing e-commerce in jewelry made in Belarus and Russia, as well as the mutual recognition of state standard marks.

The two countries are close trade partners and Belarus has been sanctioned for supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“A marketplace for the sale of Belarusian and Russian jewelry on foreign markets is planned to be launched in test mode this year, Moiseyev said, according to BelTA, Belarus’s state news agency.

He said the Eurasian Development Bank, founded jointly by Russia and Kazakhstan, was taking part in the collaboration.

Source: IDEX

Mining Company Alrosa Unveils Russia’s Largest-Ever Diamond

Russian diamond producer Alrosa announced Friday that it finished the two year cutting process of the country’s largest ever diamond a 100 carat vivid yellow stone named New Sun.

New Sun was cut from a billion year old 200 carat rough diamond, which was unearthed from an ancient riverbed at the Ebelyakh mine in the Far East republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

Alrosa said 15 of Russia’s top jewelers worked meticulously to “achieve the perfect balance between light, color and the play of shades.”

“Thanks to the highest skill of Russian experts, the diamond has acquired impeccable proportions that accentuate its depth and brightness of its sunny hue,” the company said.

The cutting process marks a “new stage” in the development of the Russian Cut, a gem cutting technique known for its precision and brilliance, Alrosa said.

“New Sun is one of the most significant events in the gemstone industry in recent years, highlighting Russia’s high status in the global diamond industry,” the company said.

Last month, Alrosa announced the temporary suspension of operations at several less profitable sites, reducing annual production by less than 1 million carats. The company still plans to produce 29 million carats of diamonds in 2025.

Alrosa, which is under an EU and G7 import ban, is the world’s largest diamond mining company by volume. It cut production by 2.8% to 34.6 million carats in 2023 and by 4.6% to 33 million carats in 2024.

Source: DCLA

Alrosa set to Sell More Rough to Government

                                       Rough diamond weighing 390.7 carats

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

Source: DCLA

US Diamond Importers Must Declare Country of Origin

New rules announced by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will require all diamond importers to declare the country of origin of all goods.

The move, to be implemented in April, is aimed at enforcing sanctions on Russian diamonds.

Importers have been required, since last March, to certify that their goods are not Russian, but not to disclose where they are from.

The G7 nations – including the US and EU – imposed a ban on Russian diamonds of 1 carat or more from March 2024 and on goods of 0.5 carats or above from September 2024.

Despite the sanctions, Russia is still thought to be exporting 40 per cent of its diamonds output because they are below the size threshold or industrial quality.

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a statement that it plans to start collecting additional data in April on jewelry imports (and seafood) requiring filers to provide the country of mining.

They’ll be required to upload a PDF document on official company letterhead to CBP’s automated commercial environment (ACE) document image system.

The requirement applies to both loose diamonds and jewelry containing diamonds. Jewelry imports without diamonds are exempt.

The carat size threshold is not mentioned in the CBP announcement.

Source: IDEX

ALROSA Predicts Rising Demand and Diamond Prices in 2025

Russian diamond giant Alrosa

The high demand for jewelry and a decline of up to 20% in global diamond mining volumes compared to levels recorded 5-6 years ago will drive the industry’s growth, according to Sergey Takhiev, Head of Corporate Finance at Russian diamond giant Alrosa, reported by Rough&Polished.

According to Takhiev, while diamond prices are currently at a low point, demand is expected to grow due to a reduction in diamond inventories at manufacturing centers in India and a decline in diamond production volumes by major mining companies.

When asked about the timeline for market inventory replenishment, Takhiev estimated it would likely occur within a few months. He explained that the restocking of rough and polished diamond inventories is expected to impact the entire value chain, from manufacturers to retailers. Takhiev further emphasized that the depletion of global diamond resources, coupled with growing demand for luxury jewelry, is set to drive long-term price increases.

Meanwhile, ALROSA announced that the company’s Deputy CEO, Vladimir Marchenko, who has held the position since 2018, will step down to take on another role in the mining industry.

Source: DCLA

Russia to continue buying diamonds through state fund in 2025

Russia will continue to buy diamonds through a state fund in 2025 in order to support the diamond industry and market, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev said on Thursday.

The Russian budget for 2025-2027 has set aside $1.55 billion for the purchase of precious metals and gems, Moiseev said in a statement.

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Russia will continue to ensure “stable global rough diamond prices in the wake of oversupply in the current market,” the same statement said.

State-owned precious metals and gems repository Gokhran resumed buying diamonds from Alrosa in March 2024. Alrosa, under US and EU sanctions, is the world’s largest producer of rough diamonds by volume with 30% of the market.

Source: DCLA

Russia Increases Rough Exports to India

Russian exports of rough diamonds to India increased by well over a fifth, to 4.1m carats, during the first six months of the G7 sanctions.

Total sales were up by 22.23 per cent for January to June 2024, according to the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry. But revenue fell by 15.22 per cent, as prices keep declining, from $614m to $520m.

Russian exports for June alone were 347,620 carats, an increase of almost 32 per cent on the same month last year.

The G7 and EU nations imposed sanctions on all Russian diamonds of 1.0-cts and above, regardless of where they were cut and polished, from 1 January. The threshold was lowered to 0.50-cts and above from 1 September.

Rough diamonds imported from Russia to India can only be sold to markets beyond the G7 and EU.

India’s diamond industry has been calling on the government to allow direct payments to Russia so it can more easily buy sanctioned goods.

Source: DCLA