Russian diamond mining giant, ALROSA, reported that revenue jumped 19 percent on the year to $1.2 billion in the first half of this year.
The miner, the largest producer by volume in the world, reported that sales volume increased by 7 percent to 9.6 million carats.
Sales of gem-quality diamonds soared by 27 percent, while those for industrial-quality stones went the other way – dropping 26 percent.
Meanwhile, the average price per carat across the range of its goods jumped 12 percent to $127, according to estimates by Rapaport .
ALROSA said in a previous statement that a rise in demand for rough goods enabled it to cut its inventory levels which built up due to soft market demand in the second half of 2015.
The second half of this year is likely to be a different story, however, with demand for rough seen declining after the strong build-up in the first six months of this year and the expected usual seasonal slowdown.
ALROSA expects to produce 37 million carats this year, from 39 million carats in 2015. Its rough diamond output declined by 6 percent to 16.9 million carats in the first half of 2016.
