Antwerp Rough Diamond Trade Continues Gains
June 07, 16
(IDEX Online News) – The Antwerp rough diamond trade showed continued improvement in rough export and import, although polished trade continued to show weakness according to recently released figures from the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC).
Rough diamond imports in May saw significant improvement, increasing 17.82 percent by value and 1.25 percent by volume. In the January to May period, imports of rough saw a 10.76-percent increase to 42.49 million carats.
During May, Antwerp exported 8.356 million carats of rough diamonds – a 9.89-percent increase compared to the 7.6 million carats exported in May 2015. From January to May this year, 48.99 million carats of rough diamonds were exported – a 20.5-percent increase over the same period a year previously. Rough exports by value in May also increased, rising by 9.3 percent compared to the same period in 2015.
Antwerp’s May polished diamond figures were mixed. By value, polished diamond exports increased 4.52 percent to $1.1 billion compared to $1.06 billion in May 2015.
In the January to May period, polished exports by volume fell 8.54 percent to 2.437 million carats compared to 2.664 million over the same period in 2015. Exports by value in the same period dropped to $5.537 billion compared to $5.909 billion in the January to May period of 2015 – a 6.3-percent decrease.
Polished diamond imports showed a small decrease of 2.15 percent by volume to 500,108 carats, but increased by 6.83 percent by value to $922 million compared to $863.5 million in May 2015.
In the January to May period, polished imports by value declined to $5.233 billion compared to $5.735 billion in the same period a year previously – an 8.76-percent decrease. By volume, imports declined 11.4 percent in the January to May period to 2.7 million carats compared to 3.05 million carats over the same period in 2015.
The volume of stones imported from the US declined by 13.31 percent, although their value saw a 24.4-percent increase, showing that the trade is focused on high-value stones.
Trade with the United Arab Emirates highlighted a different picture – imports of polished diamonds saw a 108.24-percent increase compared to May 2015, and also registered a 30.63-percent increase by value.