Russian diamond company Alrosa had some of its ratings upgraded by the Moody's ratings company, while some of its ratings remained constant.



While Alrosa's Ba3 corporate family rating remained constant, resting on its senior unsecured guaranteed notes, the firm's baseline credit assessment was upgraded from b3 to b2, as the company demonstrated increased revenue. Significantly, Alrosa's outlook was upgraded from stable to positive.



Moody's granted these ratings increases based on the expectation that in general, the prices of rough diamonds will continue to be strong over the next year to a year-and-a-half, even though prices may sometimes be slightly erratic during this period. Other consideration that led to Moody's affirmation of Alrosa's healthy outlook are the company's low cost reserve base and its significant share of the global market.



Alrosa sold diamonds for $130 per carat in 2011, an increase over the $84 per carat it earned in 2010.