PJSC Alrosa's total diamond sales in 2018 grew 6% to US$4.51 billion, from US$4.27 billion in 2017, driven by high demand for rough diamonds and positive price dynamics in the first half of the year.

Rough diamond sales totaled US$4.41 billion, while polished diamond sales stood at US$95.3 million, according to preliminary figures released Jan. 11.

The improvement was also attributed to the company optimizing its stocks, which made it possible to increase sales in physical terms despite an 8% decline in production to 36.6 million carats.

The Russian miner noted that a demand slowdown in the second quarter due to seasonality was not registered this year, and buying activity in the low‐priced product segment declined due to a weak global market, seasonality and destocking at a number of Indian midstream companies.

In December 2018, Alrosa said sales of rough and polished diamonds increased 38% year on year to US$328.7 million. Sales in value terms climbed 20% compared to November 2018 due to a flexible pricing policy.

Despite a market cooldown in the second half of 2018, the company said it expects demand to remain stable.

Alrosa has outlined plans to rake in about 6.1 billion Russian rubles in 2019 by selling more than 80 noncore assets, which includes the Golubaya Volna sanatorium and Lenskoe Heat Grids.

As of Jan. 11, US$1 was equivalent to 66.97 Russian rubles.