De Beers, Alrosa Post Strong Rough Sales

New York—Diamond sales were strong at the start of the year for both De Beers Group and Alrosa as demand for diamond jewelry recovered, bolstering the rough market.

During the second sales cycle of the year, which ran from Feb. 22 to March 8, De Beers’ rough diamond sales totaled $550 million compared with $362 million sold in the same period last year.

Though the figure is provisional, it marks a 52 percent increase over last year.

“We saw the continuation of good rough diamond demand during our second sales cycle of 2021 on the back of positive consumer demand for diamond jewelry,” said De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver in a press release about the results.

The company noted “healthy demand” from midstream buyers, highlighting better-than-expected sales over Christmas, Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day as the industry heads into what is traditionally a period of lower seasonal demand.

“While the year has started positively, we recognize ongoing near-term uncertainty in the pace and shape of the recovery,” said Cleaver.

Alrosa also reported recovering demand in the diamond jewelry market, which provides “good support” for rough diamond sales.

Sales of rough and polished diamonds totaled $372 million ($361 million in rough and $12 million in polished) for the miner in February, up 7 percent from $346.4 million in February 2020.