Alrosa mines 8.088 min carats of diamonds in Q1
MOSCOW. May 25 (Interfax) - Alrosa mined 8.088 million carats of diamonds in Q1 2012, the Russian diamond monopoly said.
This was 19.1% less than the 10 million carats the company mined in the same period of last year.
The executive board discussed a report on the company's operating performance in Q1 2012.
Output fell because Alrosa had no need to step up production following a reduction in sales in Q4 2011 to 4.8 million carats, from 9.1 million carats in Q3, caused by weaker demand, Metropol analyst Sergei Filchenkov said. The company stockpiled enough diamonds in Q4 to enable it to boost sales in Q1. Estimated sales revenue for Q1 rose 35% year-on-year to $1.3 billion, although preliminary figures have put this at $1.2 billion. This year's production target is quite achievable, even though output fell nearly 20% year-on-year and 3% quarter-on-quarter in January-March, Filchenkov said.
Alrosa has said that it exported 77% of the rough diamonds that it produced in Q1 sold 23% in Russia.
Production guidance this year is 34.6 million carats, level with last year's output, but Alrosa thinks there is a chance this will not be achieved. Overall production could be 2 million carats below target in the next ten years, but Alrosa has not yet lowered its guidance.
The executive board also approved a mid-term strategy for the company's projects in Africa. It has decided to set a specialized department in St Petersburg up under its Exploration R&D Institute to improve the efficiency with which it appraises new territories on the African continent and in European Russia.
The company will also support exports of hi-tech products, namely X-ray luminescence sorters produced by its Burevestnik subsidiary. Diamond mining companies in Angola, South Africa, Botswana and Lesotho currently buy these sorters. Experts estimate more than a third of the world's diamonds are extracted from ore using Burevestnik the sorters.