Global Natural Diamond Stocks Have Fallen To Their Lowest Level in Recent Years

On October 15, Russian diamond giant Alrosa released the financial report for the third quarter of this year and said:

The natural diamond (rough) inventory of global mining enterprises has reached the lowest level in recent years, and the supply has decreased structurally. But at the same time, the demand of downstream jewelry retailers in several key markets is still very strong.

The specific data are as follows:

The ore mining volume in the third quarter was 9.5 million tons, up 19% month on month, doubling year-on-year. The main reason is that Zarya, zarnistsa and munskoye mines were closed due to the epidemic in the same period last year. From January to September, the ore mining volume was 26.1 million tons, an increase of 8% year-on-year.

The ore processing capacity in the third quarter was 11.5 million tons, up 58% month on month and down 0.3% year-on-year. The processing capacity from January to September was 24.5 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 1%.

Diamond production in the third quarter was 8.8 million carats, up 26% month on month and down 5% year-on-year. The main reason is that the ore mining volume of each mine has increased. From January to September, the diamond output was 23.3 million carats, a year-on-year increase of 1%.

The diamond productivity (CPT: carats per ton of ore) in the third quarter was 0.76, down 20% month on month. The CPT from January to September was 0.95, a year-on-year increase of 3%.

In the third quarter, the group's total diamond sales were US $938 million, a month on month decrease of 20% and a year-on-year increase of 59%. Among them, the sales of rough drill is 904 million US dollars, and the sales of finished drill is 34 million US dollars. From January to September, the total diamond sales amounted to US $3.274 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.1 times, including 3.133 billion rough diamonds and 141 million finished diamonds.

Diamond sales in the third quarter were 9.2 million carats, including 700000 carats previously purchased from gokhran (Russian precious metal and gem reserve). Sales volume decreased by 20% month on month and increased by 83% year-on-year. The main reason for the month on month decline was the shortage of goods and the high sales in the second quarter, which made the base become very high (the sales volume in the second quarter was 11.4 million carats, including 4.5 million carats of the original inventory). Among the above sales, gem grade diamonds were 6.5 million carats, down 13% month on month.

From January to September, the total sales volume of diamonds was 36.1 million carats, a year-on-year increase of 1.4 times, including 900000 carats purchased from gokhran and 12.9 million carats in the original inventory. Among the above sales, the gem grade sales volume is 23.7 million carats (+ 2.1 times) and the industrial grade sales volume is 12.4 million carats (+ 3.5 times).

Diamond stocks at the end of the third quarter were 8.6 million carats, an increase of 200000 carats over the previous quarter. Ore inventory was 11 million tons, down 24% month on month and 19% year-on-year.