World’s biggest diamond producer Alrosa hit by Sino-US trade war

The US trade war with Beijing has wiped out sales targets of the world’s largest diamond producer Alrosa in China and hit purchases by the country’s tourists in the west.

“When there’s any political instability or tensions, luxury goods sales immediately react, including jewellery with diamonds,” chief executive Sergei Ivanov of the Russian diamond miner said in an interview with the Financial Times. 

“We thought our sales growth in China would go up by 2 or 3 per cent, but now the outlook is likely more pessimistic — growth rates will either be neutral or slightly negative.” 

Mr Ivanov has backed a push into China, which analysts expect to drive growth in the diamond market in the next decade along with India, as Alrosa seeks to meet demand from China’s burgeoning middle class. 

The state-owned company, which produces about half the world’s rough diamonds along with De Beers, is attempting to catch up with its rival and has raised China sales from $50m to $200m in recent years. 

But headwinds from the US-China trade war and a broader market slump are hitting the industry’s profits.

Alrosa’s revenue fell 27 per cent year-on-year to Rbs70.5bn in the first quarter of 2019. Anglo American, the owner of De Beers, blamed a 6.3 per cent decline in its most recent sales period last month on a “more challenging environment” in China. 

The industry is also facing a supply glut that has tempered demand for polished stones, which analysts at Russian investment bank VTB Capital expect to decrease by 2 per cent this year and remain poor until 2021. 

Mr Ivanov said Alrosa would continue to favour price over volume despite the struggles. “We could cut the price by 10 per cent and sell everything we have, but we won’t help the market by doing that because it’d lead to prices on diamonds in the midstream falling.”

He predicted that Alrosa’s sales, which fell 38 per cent year-on-year to $988m in the first quarter this year and had continued to slump since, would continue to remain “much worse” than 2018 before normalising in the fourth quarter this year. “In the end, Christmas in the US and Chinese new year in February aren’t going anywhere. There’ll be good demand and the market will normalise,” he said. 

The slump has not deterred Alrosa from seeking new avenues for production, with its existing reserves, mostly located in Yakutia in northeastern Russia, set to run out by 2047. Mr Ivanov said new ones will probably be discovered in the near future. 

Half a world away, Alrosa opened operations in Zimbabwe this year and is increasing its presence in Angola, where it has a stake in Catoca, the world’s fourth-largest mine, and developing the $1.5bn Luaxe kimberlite project, which is expected to be even larger. 

The company has ramped up its African operations even as other foreign nationals have stopped operating or wound down their presences in Zimbabwe and Angola. 

The move comes as Russia has raised its presence in Africa through further investment in raw materials from oil to bauxite, arms sales and security advice.

Alrosa signed its deal to enter Zimbabwe after president Emmerson Mnangagwa visited Moscow this year, ahead of a larger Russia-Africa summit scheduled in Sochi on the Black Sea for October. 

But Mr Ivanov said Alrosa’s interest in the continent was entirely geological. “Reserves in other African countries have all been researched and the chance of finding a large deposit there is close to zero,” Mr Ivanov said. 

Alrosa has also overcome suspicion of Russia to grow its operations in the US, where it has reopened a New York office, increased rough diamond sales, and plans to begin selling polished diamonds.

Mr Ivanov said that 70 per cent of investors in its recent $500m bond issue were western-based, while about half the company’s free float was owned by US entities. 

“Investors don’t bring up sanctions at all any more,” he added. 

Source: DCLA

World’s biggest diamond producer Alrosa hit by Sino-US trade war

The US trade war with Beijing has wiped out sales targets of the world’s largest diamond producer Alrosa in China and hit purchases by the country’s tourists in the west.

“When there’s any political instability or tensions, luxury goods sales immediately react, including jewellery with diamonds,” chief executive Sergei Ivanov of the Russian diamond miner said in an interview with the Financial Times. 

“We thought our sales growth in China would go up by 2 or 3 per cent, but now the outlook is likely more pessimistic — growth rates will either be neutral or slightly negative.” 

Mr Ivanov has backed a push into China, which analysts expect to drive growth in the diamond market in the next decade along with India, as Alrosa seeks to meet demand from China’s burgeoning middle class. 

The state-owned company, which produces about half the world’s rough diamonds along with De Beers, is attempting to catch up with its rival and has raised China sales from $50m to $200m in recent years. 

But headwinds from the US-China trade war and a broader market slump are hitting the industry’s profits.

Alrosa’s revenue fell 27 per cent year-on-year to Rbs70.5bn in the first quarter of 2019. Anglo American, the owner of De Beers, blamed a 6.3 per cent decline in its most recent sales period last month on a “more challenging environment” in China. 

The industry is also facing a supply glut that has tempered demand for polished stones, which analysts at Russian investment bank VTB Capital expect to decrease by 2 per cent this year and remain poor until 2021. 

Mr Ivanov said Alrosa would continue to favour price over volume despite the struggles. “We could cut the price by 10 per cent and sell everything we have, but we won’t help the market by doing that because it’d lead to prices on diamonds in the midstream falling.”

He predicted that Alrosa’s sales, which fell 38 per cent year-on-year to $988m in the first quarter this year and had continued to slump since, would continue to remain “much worse” than 2018 before normalising in the fourth quarter this year. “In the end, Christmas in the US and Chinese new year in February aren’t going anywhere. There’ll be good demand and the market will normalise,” he said. 

The slump has not deterred Alrosa from seeking new avenues for production, with its existing reserves, mostly located in Yakutia in northeastern Russia, set to run out by 2047. Mr Ivanov said new ones will probably be discovered in the near future. 

Half a world away, Alrosa opened operations in Zimbabwe this year and is increasing its presence in Angola, where it has a stake in Catoca, the world’s fourth-largest mine, and developing the $1.5bn Luaxe kimberlite project, which is expected to be even larger. 

The company has ramped up its African operations even as other foreign nationals have stopped operating or wound down their presences in Zimbabwe and Angola. 

The move comes as Russia has raised its presence in Africa through further investment in raw materials from oil to bauxite, arms sales and security advice.

Alrosa signed its deal to enter Zimbabwe after president Emmerson Mnangagwa visited Moscow this year, ahead of a larger Russia-Africa summit scheduled in Sochi on the Black Sea for October. 

But Mr Ivanov said Alrosa’s interest in the continent was entirely geological. “Reserves in other African countries have all been researched and the chance of finding a large deposit there is close to zero,” Mr Ivanov said. 

Alrosa has also overcome suspicion of Russia to grow its operations in the US, where it has reopened a New York office, increased rough diamond sales, and plans to begin selling polished diamonds.

Mr Ivanov said that 70 per cent of investors in its recent $500m bond issue were western-based, while about half the company’s free float was owned by US entities. 

“Investors don’t bring up sanctions at all any more,” he added. 

Source: DCLA

Firestone Diamonds recovers largest fancy yellow diamond to date

Firestone Diamonds has recovered a 54 carat intense fancy yellow, sawable diamond from its Liqhobong mine in Lesotho.

“The Liqhobong mine has become known for its fancy yellow stones but this one is the largest we’ve recovered so far and is therefore quite special,” says Firestone Diamonds CEO Paul Bosma.

Although certain segments of the diamond market are currently struggling, the demand for unique natural stones remains positive,” he says.

The 54 carat diamond will go on sale at the next tender scheduled to take place during September 2019.

The recovery of its latest fancy yellow diamond follows the recovery of a 72 carat diamond which was recovered together with a 22 carat makeable white stone, followed by an 11 carat fancy light-pink stone in April.

Source: DCLA

Firestone Diamonds recovers largest fancy yellow diamond to date

Firestone Diamonds has recovered a 54 carat intense fancy yellow, sawable diamond from its Liqhobong mine in Lesotho.

“The Liqhobong mine has become known for its fancy yellow stones but this one is the largest we’ve recovered so far and is therefore quite special,” says Firestone Diamonds CEO Paul Bosma.

Although certain segments of the diamond market are currently struggling, the demand for unique natural stones remains positive,” he says.

The 54 carat diamond will go on sale at the next tender scheduled to take place during September 2019.

The recovery of its latest fancy yellow diamond follows the recovery of a 72 carat diamond which was recovered together with a 22 carat makeable white stone, followed by an 11 carat fancy light-pink stone in April.

Source: DCLA

Russia digs for diamonds in permafrost n Yakutia

Diamonds are forever, and so is the permanently frozen ground of Yakutia in north eastern Siberia, home to huge diamond deposits that ensure Russia’s supremacy in world production of the luxury stone.

In the city of Mirny, the sun shines almost continuously during the region’s white night season in early July, with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius.

But the summer does not last long. Yakutia is known for having the coldest winters on the planet, which drag on for nine dark months.

This region—rich in oil, gas and precious metals—is also home to eleven out of twelve mines belonging to Russia’s Alrosa group, the world’s largest producer of rough carats.

The majority state- and local government-owned company employs most of Mirny’s 35,000 inhabitants and contributes around 40 percent of the wider region’s budget in taxes.

Alrosa, which has been criticised by some locals for alleged environmental damage including polluting water supplies, has a reputation for secrecy but is now making efforts to demonstrate some of its work.

In Mirny, a gaping hole of massive depths—the abandoned mine “Mir”—stretches out into the city. It is more than a kilometre in diameter and 525 meters deep, or nearly two Eiffel towers placed end to end.

Oleg Popov, the director of Mirny’s diamond sorting centre, shows off a billiard table covered in shiny stones.

Nearly two Eiffel Towers deep

Alrosa mine

“There are 14,000 carats worth around $9 million on this table,” he said.

Explosions in -55 centigrade

“Each stone must be sorted by size,” said Irina Senyukova, leaning on stones in the nearby sorting room.

To reach the next diamond deposits themselves, visitors board a 20-seater Antonov plane and head north, across the taiga, to Nakyn, where Alrosa operates two open pit mines and is planning for a third out in the wilderness.

The most productive mine, Botuobinskaya, is currently only 130 metres deep, but the company plans to dig down 580 metres.

The operating mines will be exploitable until 2041, the company hopes.

Inside the mines, the temperature drops to -55 degrees Celsius in winter, which requires an increased use of explosives to extract diamonds.

“The climate has an impact on our machines, but they are adapted to the extreme conditions,” said Mikhail Dyachenko, deputy chief of the mine, standing on the edge of the precipice and wearing a safety helmet.

Alrosa has become more willing to show off its work
“Man will adapt to anything, most of the miners are natives of the region. They know this climate well,” he added.

Trucks go down the mine slowly, spiralling down thin dirt roads dug into the rock. The descent can last up to an hour.

In each ton of ground, there are around 6.2 carats of diamonds. After sorting, the rough diamonds are transported on secret flights to be sold around the world.

Some are flown to polishing centres in Moscow and Smolensk, a city in Western Russia.

The process takes place under heavy security, which was tightened further since a small gang of employees stole three million dollars worth of diamonds last month.

The diamonds were later recovered.

Drinking water

Mirny was founded in the mid-1950s after the discovery of the first diamonds. Its first mine functioned until 2001, and it was closed down in 2017 after a flood killed eight people.

It’s a man’s world
Last year several dams built by the company broke and villages around Yakutia’s Vilyuy River said they could no longer use it as a water source.

Russia’s environment watchdog estimated the damage to the Vilyuy basin at 22.1 billion rubles (over $330 million, 290 million euros) but said Alrosa would not be held accountable as the accident was caused by a natural disaster.

Separately, the company said in April it would provide 833 million rubles ($13 million, 11.5 million euros) over five years for a programme to improve the quality of drinking water in the river area.

Miners are exclusively men, predominantly from the region but also from the rest of Russia. Planes or helicopters carry the miners to the sites, where they work eleven hours a day for two weeks, then have a two week break.

“Local, indigenous communities lived here, and still live nearby—they are reindeer herders, but some of them go to the city to look for work,” said Dmitry Averyanov, who drives trucks that survey the mines.

As for the future, Alrosa is looking for ways to re-open Mirny’s mine. Works are not due to start before 2024 and their cost is estimated at 73 million rubles.

Source: DCLA

Russia digs for diamonds in permafrost n Yakutia

Diamonds are forever, and so is the permanently frozen ground of Yakutia in north eastern Siberia, home to huge diamond deposits that ensure Russia’s supremacy in world production of the luxury stone.

In the city of Mirny, the sun shines almost continuously during the region’s white night season in early July, with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius.

But the summer does not last long. Yakutia is known for having the coldest winters on the planet, which drag on for nine dark months.

This region—rich in oil, gas and precious metals—is also home to eleven out of twelve mines belonging to Russia’s Alrosa group, the world’s largest producer of rough carats.

The majority state- and local government-owned company employs most of Mirny’s 35,000 inhabitants and contributes around 40 percent of the wider region’s budget in taxes.

Alrosa, which has been criticised by some locals for alleged environmental damage including polluting water supplies, has a reputation for secrecy but is now making efforts to demonstrate some of its work.

In Mirny, a gaping hole of massive depths—the abandoned mine “Mir”—stretches out into the city. It is more than a kilometre in diameter and 525 meters deep, or nearly two Eiffel towers placed end to end.

Oleg Popov, the director of Mirny’s diamond sorting centre, shows off a billiard table covered in shiny stones.

Nearly two Eiffel Towers deep

Alrosa mine

“There are 14,000 carats worth around $9 million on this table,” he said.

Explosions in -55 centigrade

“Each stone must be sorted by size,” said Irina Senyukova, leaning on stones in the nearby sorting room.

To reach the next diamond deposits themselves, visitors board a 20-seater Antonov plane and head north, across the taiga, to Nakyn, where Alrosa operates two open pit mines and is planning for a third out in the wilderness.

The most productive mine, Botuobinskaya, is currently only 130 metres deep, but the company plans to dig down 580 metres.

The operating mines will be exploitable until 2041, the company hopes.

Inside the mines, the temperature drops to -55 degrees Celsius in winter, which requires an increased use of explosives to extract diamonds.

“The climate has an impact on our machines, but they are adapted to the extreme conditions,” said Mikhail Dyachenko, deputy chief of the mine, standing on the edge of the precipice and wearing a safety helmet.

Alrosa has become more willing to show off its work
“Man will adapt to anything, most of the miners are natives of the region. They know this climate well,” he added.

Trucks go down the mine slowly, spiralling down thin dirt roads dug into the rock. The descent can last up to an hour.

In each ton of ground, there are around 6.2 carats of diamonds. After sorting, the rough diamonds are transported on secret flights to be sold around the world.

Some are flown to polishing centres in Moscow and Smolensk, a city in Western Russia.

The process takes place under heavy security, which was tightened further since a small gang of employees stole three million dollars worth of diamonds last month.

The diamonds were later recovered.

Drinking water

Mirny was founded in the mid-1950s after the discovery of the first diamonds. Its first mine functioned until 2001, and it was closed down in 2017 after a flood killed eight people.

It’s a man’s world
Last year several dams built by the company broke and villages around Yakutia’s Vilyuy River said they could no longer use it as a water source.

Russia’s environment watchdog estimated the damage to the Vilyuy basin at 22.1 billion rubles (over $330 million, 290 million euros) but said Alrosa would not be held accountable as the accident was caused by a natural disaster.

Separately, the company said in April it would provide 833 million rubles ($13 million, 11.5 million euros) over five years for a programme to improve the quality of drinking water in the river area.

Miners are exclusively men, predominantly from the region but also from the rest of Russia. Planes or helicopters carry the miners to the sites, where they work eleven hours a day for two weeks, then have a two week break.

“Local, indigenous communities lived here, and still live nearby—they are reindeer herders, but some of them go to the city to look for work,” said Dmitry Averyanov, who drives trucks that survey the mines.

As for the future, Alrosa is looking for ways to re-open Mirny’s mine. Works are not due to start before 2024 and their cost is estimated at 73 million rubles.

Source: DCLA

Diamonds from Marange excluded by Blue Nile

Top US jewelry etailer Blue Nile has blacklisted Zimbabwean diamonds over reports of human rights abuses in Manicaland’s Marange district.

On its website Blue Nile says: “Blue Nile is committed to ensuring that the highest ethical standards are observed when sourcing our diamonds and jewelry. Because of the reported human rights abuses in Zimbabwe’s Marange diamond district, Blue Nile will not purchase or offer diamonds from that area. As a responsible member of the diamond and jewelry industry, we are working with our suppliers to ensure our consumers receive only the finest goods procured from ethical sources.”

It is not clear how long ago this statement was posted opn the Blue Nile website.

In a report on the NewZimbabwe.com website Blue Nile was quoted as stating that “it was doing this in adherence to global diamond watcher the Kimberley Process. If one of our suppliers was ever found to be in violation of that process, we would immediately sever that relationship,” the diamond trader was quoted.

The NGO, the Center for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) welcomed Blue Nile’s decision. CNRG executive director Farai Maguwu called on Zimbabwean authorities and in particular Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company owned by the State.

“We endorse the decision by Blue Nile. It is the right thing to do. The use of torture and murder as punishment to artisanal miners in Marange has been widely reported resulting in consumers raising a red flag,” Muguwu told NewZimbabwe.com in an interview.

Maguwu claimed that in 2018 alone, more than 40 artisanal miners were killed in cold blood by ZCDC guards. Since the discovery of diamonds in Marange in June 2006, the police and army have been accused of using brute force and live ammunition to deal with illegal diamond miners.

Source: idexonline