Alrosa Sells $10M at New York Auction

RAPAPORT… Russian miner Alrosa has reopened its New York office,
holding its first auction in two years at the branch.




The company sold 1,040 carats for $10.4 million
at the auction of rough diamonds weighing 10.8 carats or more, it reported Tuesday. A total of 50 companies took part in the sale from April
23 to May 11, including firms from the US, Belgium, India, Israel and the
United Arab Emirates.




“We are glad to reopen Alrosa’s office in New York, and now
are forming its team,” said Evgeny Agureev, director of Alrosa’s United Selling
Organization. “We brought [a] standard color assortment to the auction in
New York, and sold it with a good premium [over] the starting price. We saw
strong interest, primarily from American diamond manufacturers.”




Alrosa plans to hold a second auction of rough diamonds weighing 10.8 carats or more, as well
as a large-scale tender for its polished diamonds, at the New York base in
October.




Alrosa originally opened the New York office in 2006, but
shut it down in 2016 for organizational reasons, it said.




Outside its home country, the miner also has trading offices
in Antwerp, Hong Kong, Dubai and Ramat Gan, as well as a representative office
in Mumbai, which it opened last month.




Image: Alrosa