Polished production target was met in Yakutia this year

Twelve diamond manufacturing factories operating in Yakutia this year produced 60,000 carats of polished goods having earned a total of $145 million. This favorable picture has been darkened by the decline in demand for large stones in the domestic market and a fall in diamond sales in the world market during the second half of the year, REGNUM reports.
Production in terms of carats increased by 15 percent in 2014 year-on-year, while total diamond value fell 6 percent. Domestic consumers favored smaller gems, which decreased the average selling price to $1,190 per carat from $1,540 per carat.
Yakutia's leading diamond manufacturing company this year was Yakut Diamond Company, which earned $47 million in revenue (28,000 carats sold). According to the Diamond Council under the President of Yakutia, Kristall-99 and Choron Diamond significantly reduced polished production, with numbers dropping 66 percent and 71 percent respectively.
According to Yuri Okoyomov, Vice President of ALROSA, the situation on the world diamond market is unstable: "At the beginning of the year everything went smoothly, but the second half of the year was worse. However, this year we will still produce more than $5 billion worth of rough diamonds."
There are two main obstacles for the development of the diamond industry in Yakutia: one is that most companies have no liquidity to purchase rough and the other is the current geopolitical situation.
In order to improve the competitiveness of Yakut manufacturers, the Diamond Council proposes to accelerate the adoption of the diamond industry development program involving governmental support to small-scale manufacturers. Fifty percent of polished goods produced by Yakut manufacturers is exported to Belgium, Israel, Japan and China. Thirty percent is sold on the Russian market and twenty percent in Yakutia.