Though the overall trade in rough and polished diamonds continued to remain depressed, Antwerp saw a rise in the volumes of rough traded during September, according to figures released by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC).

During the month, the centre exported nearly 10.21 million carats of rough at a value of US$ 751.97 million. This represented a large year-on-year increase of 20.54% in terms of volume, though weak prices still resulted in a major decline of 21.71% in terms of value. Rough imports were also up 19.52% in volume terms though they dropped 24.50% in value terms – with 7.64 mn carats of rough being imported at US$ 608.45 million – as compared to a year earlier.

Trade in polished also dipped during the month. Exports totalled 341,862 cts of polished at a value of US$ 872.67 million, a drop of 19.86% in volume terms, and of 24.97% in value terms year-on-year. During the month, the centre imported 433,016 cts of polished at a value of US$ 860.03 million, registering a drop of 10.06% in volume terms and a sharp 28.55% in value terms as compared to September 2018.

During the first nine months of 2019, rough exports totalled 76.01 mn cts at US$ 6.80 bn, showing a decrease of 16.09% in volume terms and of 29.35% in value terms, while rough imports of 58.01 mn cts at US$ 5.96 bn were down 15.16% y-o-y in volume terms and 28.00% in value terms.

Polished exports during Jan-Sept 2019 stood at 3.18 mn cts at US$ 8.01 bn, down 12.40% in volume and a slightly lower 9.81% in value, and polished imports of 4.08 mn cts at US$ 8.26 bn, were down 9.10% in volume and by a smaller 8.46% in value terms y-o-y.