Alrosa Cancels October Rough Sale

RAPAPORT... Alrosa will not hold a rough trading session in October in an effort to avoid releasing too many goods during a fragile recovery in the diamond market. The Russian miner will combine its October and November sales, it said Thursday. "This will help to support a nascent supply-demand balance by servicing only real demand from the clients, as uncertainty persists, thus avoiding a risk of excessive concentration of supply over time," the company explained.Demand picked up at Alrosa's August and September sales, but the company still allowed customers to buy only the goods they needed rather than forcing them to meet predetermined purchase obligations. Sales results and customer feedback indicate this was the right approach, Alrosa said.August sales rose 19% year on year to $216.7 million as the company reduced rough prices to spur demand. In September, the figure grew 30% to $336 million. "A 'rhythmical' offering of the goods gives our clients an opportunity to process the rough they have already bought and plan their rough purchase more precisely, while considering a persistent epidemiological and political uncertainty in some regions," said Alrosa deputy CEO Evgeny Agureev.Image: A 108-carat diamond Alrosa sold at a large-stone auction in New York in 2018. (Alrosa)