{"id":1183853,"date":"2020-05-12T09:04:40","date_gmt":"2020-05-12T14:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/?p=1023572"},"modified":"2020-05-12T09:04:40","modified_gmt":"2020-05-12T14:04:40","slug":"alrosas-anemic-april-sales-a-fresh-sign-of-market-agony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=1183853","title":{"rendered":"Alrosa\u2019s anemic April sales a fresh sign of market agony"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Russia\u2019s\u00a0Alrosa\u00a0(MCX: ALRS), the world\u2019s top diamond producer by output, saw sales for rough and polished diamonds <a href=\"http:\/\/eng.alrosa.ru\/alrosa-minimizes-sales-of-rough-and-polished-diamonds-in-april\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">fall to $15.6 million in April<\/a>, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to hit demand.<\/p>\n<div class='ad-slot' id='div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0'><script>googletag.cmd.push(function() {    googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0');    googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotRenderEnded', function (event) {        if (event.isEmpty) {            var id = event.slot.getSlotElementId();            var x = document.getElementById(id);            if(x == null) return;            if (x.parentElement.classList.contains('ad-slot')) {                x.parentElement.style.display = 'none';            }\t\t\t\t        }    });});<\/script><\/div>\n<p>The figure compares to the $152.8<br \/>\nmillion the diamond miner fetched in March and the and $405 million in January.<\/p>\n<p>Deputy CEO, Evgeny Agureev, said restrictions to slow down the spread of the virus and a falling demand had reduced trade to a minimum. He said he hoped to see an upward trend in demand as early as the beginning of the third quarter.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/alrosa-diamond-sales-2020.png\" alt=\"Alrosa\u2019s anemic April sales a fresh sign of market agony\" class=\"wp-image-1023573\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/alrosa-diamond-sales-2020.png 1023w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/alrosa-diamond-sales-2020-300x123.png 300w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/alrosa-diamond-sales-2020-768x316.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1023px) 100vw, 1023px\" \/><figcaption>Rough and polished diamond sales so far this year. (<em>Source: <a href=\"http:\/\/eng.alrosa.ru\/alrosa-minimizes-sales-of-rough-and-polished-diamonds-in-april\/\"  rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alrosa.<\/a><\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Last week, the Russian state-controlled company decided to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/alrosa-halts-diamond-mining-at-two-assets\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">halt production at two of its mines<\/a>, saying that extended lockdowns affecting key players in the supply chain, including polishers and top retailers, has worsen market conditions.<\/p>\n<p>It also said it would offer options<br \/>\nfor online trade and relaxed payment terms for its contracts in March.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The diamond market began suffering from the effects of the covid-19 spread in early March, and measures to contain it have already pushed big and small miners over the edge.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Coronavirus effect<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The pandemic has already squashed<br \/>\ndiamond miners\u2019 dawning hopes of a recovery in a sector already reeling from<br \/>\nweak prices and demand since late 2018.<\/p>\n<p>De Beers, the world\u2019s largest producer by value\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/de-beers-axes-diamond-production-forecast-amid-market-collapse\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">cut\u00a02020 production guidance by a fifth<\/a>\u00a0last month. It had earlier\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/de-beers-scraps-diamond-sales-event-due-to-coronavirus-lockdowns\/\" >cancelled its April sales event<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Canada\u2019s Dominion Diamond Mines,<br \/>\nthe controlling owner of Ekati mine and a 40% partner to Rio Tinto in the<br \/>\nDiavik mine,&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/cfcanada.fticonsulting.com\/Dominion\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">filed for insolvency protection<\/a>&nbsp;in April. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Lucara Diamond\u00a0(TSX:LUC), another Canadian company, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/lucara-diamond-in-the-red-as-market-conditions-worsen\/\" >posted  last week a net loss of $3.2 million<\/a>, or $0.01 a share, for the first three months of the year. <\/p>\n<p>The figure was in sharp contrast with the $7.4 million in net income, or $0.02 in earning per share the miner reported in the same period last year.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/diamond-prices.jpg\" alt=\"Lucara Diamond in the red as market conditions worsen\" class=\"wp-image-1023223\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/diamond-prices.jpg 737w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/diamond-prices-300x223.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 737px) 100vw, 737px\" \/><figcaption><em>Courtesy of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.paulzimnisky.com\/roughdiamondindex\"  rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zimnisky Rough Diamond Index.<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>South Africa\u2019s Petra Diamonds<br \/>\n(LON:PDL)&nbsp;has recently delayed interest payments&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/petra-diamonds-delays-interest-payment-to-borrow-21m\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">to borrow $21 million in new debt<\/a>, a crucial move to keep<br \/>\nthe company afloat.<\/p>\n<p>Investment banks are increasingly<br \/>\nreluctant to extend credit to diamond producers, as inventory is not being sold<br \/>\nand defaults are possible, analysts have warned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are concerned about oversupply<br \/>\nof rough diamonds following the reopening of economies, as a lot of inventory<br \/>\ncould potentially be flooded into the system and the market might not be able<br \/>\nto absorb all of it, resulting in increased pricing pressure,\u201d Citi said in an<br \/>\nearly May note.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The world&rsquo;s top diamond producer by output saw sales dive 95% in April compared to the same month of 2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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