Russian Diamond Industry

Russian Diamond Industry

The Antwerp World Diamond Center confirmed that Antwerp and the Russian Diamond Industry were interconnected. Furthermore, the Antwerp World Diamond Center signaled it intended to strengthen its strategic relationship with the Russian diamond industry. President of the Antwerp Diamond Center Stephane Fischler and Andrei Yurin, the managing director of Gokhran, Russia's State Precious Metals and Gems Repository, signed an agreement of understanding in which both parties exchange market information, knowledge, and technology to strengthen their respective reputations with regards to the natural diamond market. During the Antwerp Diamond Night, a party hosted by the Belgian Embassy in Moscow, the agreement was officially signed by the two sides. The event brought together a delegation of at least 35 Antwerp diamond companies, an AWDC delegation, ALROSA's top management as well as other stakeholders in the Russian diamond industry as well as representatives from Gokhran. According to the answer, World Diamond Center in 2013 alone Russia exported 22.8 million carats of diamonds to Belgium. Also, a very large figure for both the Russian diamond industry as well as Belgium's. This number represents approximately 25 percent of all Antwerp rough imports value that $2.8 billion. About 50 percent of rough diamonds in Antwerp come from ALROSA. A staple in the Russian diamond industry.

Gokhran Sets Budget

Russia's State Precious Metals and Gemstones Repository, known as Gokhran, sold $177.7 million worth of precious metals and gemstones in 2013 alone. This represents 94.7 percent of the budget target for the year the Audit Chamber said in a report regarding Gokhran's budget performance. Domestic market sales total $39.2 million while exports generated $138.4 million. Sales in 2012 team to a total of $453 million, including some $365.7 million in precious metals sales. According to Gokhran's budget, the company may sell $332.1 million worth of precious metal and gemstones in 2014 and $262.6 million in 2015. Additionally, the company spent $105.7 million in procuring precious metals and gemstone in 2013. As well as $97.8 million worth of diamonds from ALROSA. Significantly up from the year 2012 when it only spent $276.5 million.

Templeton Fund Buys ALROSA Shares

Managed by investor Mark Mobius, the Templeton Russia, and East European Fund became shareholders of ALROSA in the fourth quarter of 2013; the company's acquired 1,995,400 ordinary shares. Interfax reported that these shares make up 0.03% of ALROSA's stock and value at $2.2 million. Furthermore, Templeton Russia and East European Fund may have become an ALROSA shareholder during the company's IPO that took place at the end of October. ALROSA's free float is around 23 percent. Additionally, a 30% growth over the next five years is expected by company management.

Severalmaz Opens New Diamond Plant

Severalmaz, a subsidiary of ALROSA, recently opened its second plant at the Lomonosov diamond mine. Located in the Arkhangelsk region of Russia.  Furthermore, the company intends to produce 500,000 carats of diamonds annually from its new plant for the Russian diamond industry. With two production facilities Severalmaz anticipates that it will nearly triple its diamond production capacity. The company suggests that it will reach annual production of over 5 million carats of diamonds per year by 2021. Fyodor Andreev, the president of ALROSA, is quoted as saying, "development of the Lomonosov project is an important part of ALROSA's growth strategy. Today their share of Severalmaz in ALROSA has overall production about to 5 percent.  However, soon it will contribute up to 10 percent. This project will help ALROSA to increase the total output of rough diamonds up to 41,000,000 carats by 2021.   http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=12761689 http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=SALZI.RTS https://www.awdc.be/en/homepage Chinese Diamond Industry