Russia Sells 72690 Carats Of National Reserve Diamonds

The Russian State Treasures Agency sold 72690 carats of diamonds from the national reserve through auction, bringing in $46 million in revenue for the state institution.

 

According to a report by Russia's "NEDRADV" on March 10, 2023, two public auctions were held at the Russian Treasures Preservation Agency to sell natural rough diamonds from Russia's national reserves in the domestic market.

 

In the first auction held on February 27th, the total weight of 468756.35 carats of diamond raw materials was displayed, with a value of 17.293 million US dollars. According to the auction results, all diamonds have been sold for a total of 23.889 million yuan.

 

At the second auction on February 28th, a total of 258170.07 carats of diamond raw materials worth $18.035 million were exhibited. The sales amount of all exhibited items is 22.153 million US dollars.

 

The Russian Precious Metals Preservation Service is a state agency of the Russian Federation, engaged in the handling, registration, preservation, sale, and security of precious metals, gemstones, precious metal and gemstone products, as well as their waste and precious waste products, in the domestic market of the Russian Federation Precious Metals and Gemstone Reserve Center.

 

In 2021, the global diamond reserves were 1.8 billion carats, with a resource of 3.713 billion carats. The country with the highest diamond reserves is Russia with 1.1 billion carats, accounting for 61.11%; The second is Botswana with 300 million carats, accounting for 16.67%; The Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa have 150 million carats and 120 million carats respectively, accounting for 8.33% and 6.67% of the total; The total of other countries is only 130 million carats, accounting for only 7.22%.

 

In 2021, the global diamond production was 83.2582 million carats, of which Russia's diamond production was 33.102 million carats, accounting for about 40% of the global total production. The top five producing countries accounted for 99.41% of the global diamond production, showing a highly concentrated characteristic.

 

The G7 and EU hope to restrict the trade of Russian diamonds and discuss the possibility of imposing sanctions on Russian diamond trade. On February 24, 2023, the White House issued a G7 statement stating, "Given the enormous revenue Russia earns from diamond exports, we will work together to take further measures against Russian diamonds, including rough and polished diamonds, and work closely with our major partners

 

For the global diamond industry chain, if Russian diamonds cannot be exported, the total amount of diamonds in the world will decrease, and diamond prices may rise, causing significant fluctuations in the global jewelry industry.