The polished diamond trade in Antwerp was significantly hit by the impact of the Coronavirus disease in February 2020 with exports to Hong Kong, following the postponement of the show, dropping sharply, and though rough imports remained buoyant, rough exports too dropped, according to figures released by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC).

During the month, the centre exported nearly 9.07 million carats of rough at a value of US$ 717.91 million. This represented a year-on-year decline of 7.92% in terms of volume and a 15.89% drop in terms of value. However, following increased sales of rough by mining companies in January, rough diamond imports rose by 19.30% in volume terms and by 10.06% in value terms – with 8.29 mn carats of rough being imported at US$ 683.32 million – as compared to a year earlier.

Trade in polished took a hit, with the dip seen in January continuing in February. Exports totalled 286,756 cts of polished at a value of US$ 560.09 million, a drop of 37.74% in volume terms, and of 54.83% in value terms year-on-year. During the month, the centre imported 367,724 cts of polished at a value of US$ 684.54 million, registering a drop of 4.03% in volume terms and 11.11% in value terms as compared to February 2019.

During the first two months of 2020, rough exports totalled 16.75 mn cts at US$ 1.49 bn, showing a decrease of 6.77% in volume terms and of 11.87% in value terms. However, rough imports of 16.40 mn cts at US$ 1.51 bn were up 29.87% y-o-y in volume terms and 12.28% in value terms.

Polished exports during the year stood at 0.57 m cts at a value of US$ 1.17 million, down 24.66% in volume and 42.21% in value, and polished imports of 0.82 mn cts at US$ 10.06 bn, were down 11.10% in volume and 12.12% in value terms y-o-y.