ALROSA eyes output growth in 2019, fulfills plans for 2018

DAVOS, Jan 23 (PRIME) -- Russian diamond mining giant ALROSA expects diamond output to grow in 2019 having fulfilled its production and sales plans for 2018, CEO Sergei Ivanov told reporters on Wednesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

“We are to publish our report tomorrow, but I can say that production and sales reached the forecasted levels of 36.6 million carats and 38 million carats, respectively, in 2018,” he said.

“We hope that the year of 2019 will also be stable. We plan to raise the output and to produce slightly more than 38 million carats, while sales will depend on the market. It is possible that we will show sales at the level of production, at 38 million carats,” Ivanov said.

The diamond stock of the company amounted to about 17 million carats as of the end of 2018.

“We sold a lot of expensive diamonds, and the stock comprises a lot more small rough diamonds than before, which we hope to sell this year. That is why the cost of the stock in the U.S. dollars fell significantly in 2018,” he said, adding that the company has no plans to change the diamond stock in 2019.

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