Russian diamond production falls 1.4% in H1 to 18.22 mln carats - MinFin
MOSCOW. Aug 18 (Interfax) - Russia mined 18.224 million carats of diamonds in H1 2016, 1.4% less than in the same period of last year, the Finance Ministry said.
Alrosa , which mines 97% of Russia's diamonds, produced 16.9 million carats in the half, down 6% year-on-year, with is partly due to the production program being adjusted in connection with a challenging market environment. The ministry's data are for diamonds that were sorted and underwent primary classification and valuation in the period January 1-June 30, and could include some diamonds mined in 2015.
Russian diamond mine output in value fell 16.5% to an estimated $1.684 billion. The estimate is based on the Finance Ministry's accounting prices, which are used for tax purposes, and which are way below market prices. However they do give an indication of price trends on the market, and the quality of exported rough diamonds if physical volumes are the same. Alrosa lowered its diamond prices 15% in H2 2015 as market demand declined.
