Both the rough and polished diamond trade in Antwerp rose strongly in July on the eve of the annual summer break, with rough exports rising by 18% and polished exports up by 8.5%, according to figures released by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC).

In July 2018, the Antwerp centre exported over 10.64 million carats of rough at a value of US$ 1.33 billion, a year-on-year dip of 2.21% in terms of volume, but a big rise of 18.18% in value terms. Rough imports rose by 3.84% in volume terms, and by a much larger 22.94% in value terms – with 7.63 mn carats of rough being imported at US$ 956 million – as compared to a year earlier.

During July 2018, the Antwerp centre exported 460,871 cts of polished at a value of US$ 1.10 bn, a drop of 4.02% in volume terms but a rise of 8.48% in value terms year-on-year. During the month, the centre imported 506,701 cts of polished at a value of US$ 941 mn, registering an increase of 16.72% in volume terms and of 27.94% in value terms as compared to July 2017.

During the first seven months of 2018, rough exports totalled 77.48 mn cts at US$ 8.18 bn, remaining virtually flat with a drop of 0.41% in volume terms and a slightly stronger rise of 5.88% in value terms, while rough imports of 57.06 mn cts at US$ 6.84 bn were similarly up by just 1.29% y-o-y in volume terms and a somewhat higher 6.14% in value terms.

Polished exports during Jan-July 2018 stood at 3.01 mn cts at US$ 7.23 bn, almost flat with a 1.45% dip in volume and 2.19% increase in value, while polished imports of 3.62 mn cts  at US$ 7.12 bn, were up 5.53% in volume and 4.69% in value terms y-o-y.