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Russian diamond miner Alrosa has launched a bond for investors.

Alrosa, the Russian diamond miner that produces precious gems for use in diamond rings and diamond jewellery, has launched a bond.

This is according to Andrey Solovyov, head of debt capital markets at VTB Capital, on organiser of the issue, Reuters reports.

The $1 billion (£626 million) Eurobond runs for ten years and Mr Solovyov told the news source that demand has been high, with around 200 investors taking part.

He explained the book for the placement – which was also handled by JP Morgan and UBS – was "oversubscribed nearly two times".

Alrosa produces 96 per cent of overall diamond output in Russia and currently accounts for a quarter of diamond output worldwide.

In 2009, it produced 35 million carats of rough diamonds for use in items such as diamond engagement rings, valued at around $2.2 billion.

Rapaport recently reported Armenian firms are looking to enter into sales agreements with Alrosa and increase the amount of diamonds they import from Russia.
 

Both imports and exports of polished diamonds by India rose last month, further adding to the year-on-year gains seen earlier in 2010.

Trade of polished diamonds by India climbed during August, new data has revealed.

According to statistics from the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, the country exported polished precious stones worth $2.3 billion (£1.45 billion) last month, a year-on-year increase of 65 per cent.

And the value of polished diamonds brought into the country climbed 43 per cent to $1.36 billion, the figures showed, even though the volume of the imported stones dipped by 20 per cent.

The figures mean that for the first eight months of 2010, India exported polished stones worth $14.8 billion – a 71 per cent climb on the same period in 2009 – with the imported equivalent up 43 per cent to $9.1 billion.

Exports could be set to rise further in the future, as Eric Finlayson of Rio Tinto was recently quoted by Bloomberg as saying the firm has made "the largest diamond discovery in the last ten years" at its Bunder project in India.

Botswana diamond exports have fallen, according to new figures

Diamond exports in Botswana declined by more than 50 per cent during the month of July, according to a new report.

Data published by the Bank of Botswana has revealed exports of the jewel from the African country fell by 56 per cent to $126.1 million throughout July, Rapaport states.

Despite this fall during July, total exports through the first seven months of 2010 increased by 31 per cent to $1.54 billion (£1 billion).

Additionally, Jacob Thamage, coordinator for Diamond Trading Company Botswana, advised local factories have already purchased around $250 million of rough diamonds throughout the first half of the year, exceeding the total for 2009.

Elsewhere, the value of diamonds exported by India during the first three months of 2010 rose by 85 per cent in comparison to the same period in 2009, the Times of India recently reported.

Precious stones amounting to a value of around $6 billion were purchased by companies in Hong Kong, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, the US and China during the first quarter of the year.