Alrosa/Banks Meeting Concludes Turmoil Sanitizing Market

(IDEX Online) - An Alrosa delegation, led by CEO Sergey Ivanov, recently met with diamond banks and funds to discuss developments in the industry. Among the attendees at the December 6 Moscow event were delegates from the State Bank of India, NBF, ABN AMRO and representatives of the DelGatto and Channel finance funds.

During the meeting, the group discussed the factors leading to the weaker diamond market environment in 2019 and steps to improve market stability in the long term. 

According to the workshop's participants, the existing turmoil helps to "sanitize" the market, pushing out players that never invested in business efficiency or resilience and prioritised short-term profits instead. 

The general opinion is that the midstream segment is forced into a transformation. Industry players need to evolve into more transparent and responsible businesses, as it will help them secure bank loans.

Alrosa said the banks believe that the "price over volume" strategy chosen by diamond producers has helped the cutting segment to absorb overstocking amid a funding crunch in the midstream segment in India, which is home to over 90 percent of all cutters.

The banks also highlighted the importance of marketing initiatives, saying that market growth can only be driven by stronger consumer demand for diamond jewelry.

"During the meeting, an exchange of opinions and experiences as part of an open dialogue has generated many useful insights. With transparent operations of industry players being one of the key drivers behind market efficiency, we have decided to hold meetings with financial institutions on a regular basis," said Ivanov.