Bloomberg: Gem market split in two due to sanctions against Russia

Due to sanctions against the Russian company ALROSA, the global diamond market has been divided into two camps. Most of all profits are received by a group of buyers from India and Belgium, who, without advertising deals with Russia, buy large volumes of raw materials from Russia on favorable terms. The agency reports Bloomberg with reference to sources.

According to the agency, such giants in the precious metals market as Tiffany & Co. and Signet Jewelers, which refused to cooperate with ALROSA, are cooperating with its competitor, De Beers. However, Bloomberg sources say it no longer has a lot of raw materials to sell.

Western suppliers are concerned about the shortage of small and cheap diamonds against the backdrop of sanctions against ALROSA. According to the agency, companies from Belgium and India continue to buy raw materials from Russia. The agency’s sources name Indian companies Kiran Gems and Shree Ramkrishna Exports Pvt as the largest buyers. However, it is impossible to obtain reliable information about the transactions due to the fact that ALROSA concealed its reporting.

As the agency notes, the hidden nature of transactions between Indian companies and Russia suggests that Russian stones are likely to end up on Western markets as well. According to Bloomberg, under the sanctions, Russian raw materials go through a chain of 10 buyers.

ALROSA came under EU, US and UK restrictions. Due to sanctions against ALROSA De Beers raised diamond prices by 7%. As Kommersant learned, supplies to India increased due to sanctions, but there are problems with payment in transactions with buyers from this country.

More details – in the material “Sanction cut”.

Anastasia Larina