There was a sharp dip in value terms in diamond imports and exports from Antwerp during the month of November, according to figures released by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC). However, rough imports rose marginally in volume terms, indicating a similar trend to that noted by other centres, of increased movement of small-size, lower-value goods.

In November 2018, the centre exported over 9.86 million carats of rough at a value of US$ 841.28 million, a significant year-on-year decline of 32.53% in terms of volume, and 34.45% in value terms. Rough imports were up by a small margin of 2.75% to 8.32 mn cts but declined sharply by 11.52% in value terms to US$ 872.17 million – as compared to a year earlier.

During November 2018, the Antwerp centre exported 386,353 cts of polished at a value of US$ 863.81 million, a marginal dip of 1.47% in volume terms, and a more significant drop of 11.04% in value terms year-on-year. During the month, the centre imported 433,402 cts of polished at a value of US$ 787.02 mn, registering a decline of 6.93% in volume terms and a larger 10.50% dip in value terms as compared to November 2017.

During the first eleven months of 2018, rough exports totalled 108.10 mn cts at US$ 11.35 bn, which represents a drop of 6.69% in volume terms and a marginal fall of 0.63% in value terms, while rough imports of 82.97 mn cts at US$ 9.92 bn were similarly down by 5.77% in volume terms y-o-y, and dropped by a marginal 0.50% in value terms.

Polished exports during Jan-Nov 2018 stood at 4.42 mn cts at US$ 10.69 bn, with a small 2.47% dip in volume terms, but a 2.10% increase in value terms, while polished imports of 5.42 mn cts at US$ 10.74 bn, were up 2.35% in volume terms and 4.26% in value terms y-o-y.