Russian diamond producer Alrosa said on Monday that its rough and polished diamond sales totalled $35.8-million in July, down 79% from a year earlier after the coronavirus pandemic hit demand and the supply chain.
It marked a fourth consecutive month of weak sales as falling demand and supply chain disruptions since March have prompted Alrosa and other producers to reduce output and relax payment terms for clients.
Alrosa’s sales rose from $31.3-million in June but still were only a fraction of the usual sales of the world’s largest producer of rough diamonds. Its sales in July 2019 totalled $170.5-million.