OREANDA-NEWS. November 15, 2012. OJSC ALROSA signed a two-year agreement for the supply of rough diamonds with Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited, a leading jewellery manufacturer in China, reported the press-centre of ALROSA.

The official signing ceremony took place in Moscow. The document was signed by Conroy Cheng, Chow Tai Fook executive director, and by president of ALROSA Fyodor Andreev.

“The greatest challenge for all diamond industry players is the scarcity of authentic natural diamonds. The agreement with ALROSA enables us to secure more reliable supplies of rough diamonds, particularly those specifications that are in greatest demand from our customers” said Mr. Conroy Cheng during the signing ceremony.

According to Mr. Andreev, signing a long-term agreement with Chow Tai Fook is a step towards geographical diversification of ALROSA’s sales, which the Company deems necessary for the development of its activities. “ALROSA’s priority is signing long-term agreements with large companies, since such agreements guarantee stable sales volume to us, as a producer, and guarantee stable rough diamond supply to a customer. Chow Tai Fook has already been ALROSA’s customer on a spot term basis. The document we signed today takes our cooperation to the next level, and it is the first ALROSA’s long-term agreement with a company from China. We believe this market has great potential in terms of the growth in diamond jewellery consumption as well as demand for rough diamonds” he said.

In his turn, Mr. Kent Wong, Managing Director of Chow Tai Fook, noted that “the partnership with ALROSA is an important move to achieve the Company’s aim and commitment to increase our procurement of rough diamonds. We are honoured to partner with ALROSA, a reputable leading diamond mining company, to underpin our strength in procuring quality natural diamonds from reliable sources. We are pleased that we share the same vision in anticipation of an increasing demand for diamond jewellery in the Greater China market”. Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited is the leading jewellery manufacturer in China, a vertically integrated company comprising diamond-cutting factories, manufacture of jewellery and watches, and an extensive retail network with over 1,600 points of sale in China, Singapore and Malaysia. The company has been a DTC Sightholder since 1993 and a Rio Tinto Select Diamantaire since 2009.