(IDEX Online) - Alrosa has halted all rough sales until November, as prices continue to fall.The sanctioned Russian miner told buyers in a memo that it was striving "to reverse the existing trend of diminishing demand," according to Bloomberg News, and would not be selling any goods during September and October.Prices of smaller goods - an area where Alrosa dominates - have been hit in recent weeks by the global slowdown that has long been impacting larger stones.Alrosa said in a statement today that it has always followed the practice of supporting the market stability and leveling its volatility. "Our solid and high-quality asset base and stable financial position allow us implementing such measures," it said in a statement."We expect that this will have a stabilizing effect to support the balance in the market and strengthen the resilience of the supply chain of rough and polished diamonds by the beginning of next year."Alrosa was selling $4bn of rough diamonds annually before Western sanctions were imposed in April 2022, in response to its invasion of Ukraine.Its diamond sales have been unaffected by sanctions, according to the company's first published set of financial results since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.First-half sales for 2023 were RUB 188.2 billion ($1.9 bn), up 0.2% from RUB 187.8bn ($1.9 bn), for H1 of 2022, and up 3.5 per cent on H1 of 2021. Net profit for H1 2023 was down 35 per cent year-on-year to RUB 55.57bn ($562.5m).In previous troubled times Alrosa has offloaded surplus to the Gokhran - Russia's state-run repository of precious stones and metals.Pic courtesy Alrosa