Alrosa Posts $130m Loss, Faces New Export Duty

(IDEX Online) -  Alrosa posted a net loss of 10.67 billion rubles ($129.7 million) for the first half of 2026, marking a sharp reversal from its 39.03 billion rubles ($474.5 million) profit for the same period last year.

Revenue fell 36% year-on-year to 74.16 billion rubles ($901.6 million) in the H1 2026, the six months ended June 30.

The state-controlled diamond miner gave no specific reasons for its poor performance. But it pointed to geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty, Western sanctions, higher gold prices, shifting jewelry demand and slower sales of rough and polished diamonds.

Matters are only likely to be made worse from next March (postponed from September 1, 2026) when Russia imposes an 8% export duty on unprocessed rough diamonds over 0.45 carats.

Alrosa says the duty will reduce its profit by about 3.12 billion rubles ($37.9 million).

The tax is part of a broader Kremlin push to capture more revenue from commodity exporters as the war in Ukraine drains the budget.

Alrosa also reported that gross profit fell to 4.62 billion rubles ($56.2 million) from 29.16 billion rubles ($354.5 million) a year earlier.

Th ecompany reported a 5 billion ruble loss ($60.8 million), in stark contrast to its 19.2 billion ruble operating profit ($233.4 million) in H1 2025. The miner's pre-tax loss was 14.08 billion rubles ($171.2 million), against a pre-tax profit of 46.6 billion rubles ($566.6 million) in H1 2025.

Pic courtesy Alrosa, shows rough sorting.