The polished diamond trade in Antwerp registered strong year-on-year increases in value terms during the month of August, while rough trade remained relatively slow, according to figures released by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC).

In August 2018, the centre exported over 4.69 million carats of rough at a value of US$ 482.6 million, a year-on-year dip of 16.35% in terms of volume, and a marginal 0.52% fall in value terms. Rough imports declined by 17% in volume terms, with a relatively small 2.37% dip in value terms – as 4.99 mn carats of rough were imported at US$ 638 million – as compared to a year earlier.

During August 2018, the Antwerp centre exported 193,138 cts of polished at a value of US$ 486.18 million, a drop of 14.28% in volume terms but a rise of 14.21% in value terms year-on-year. During the month, the centre imported 383,732 cts of polished at a value of US$ 707.98 mn, registering an increase of 9.81% in volume terms and of 12.53% in value terms as compared to August 2017.

During the first eight months of 2018, rough exports totalled 82.17 mn cts at US$ 8.66 bn, with a small drop of 1.48% in volume terms and a slightly stronger rise of 5.50% in value terms, while rough imports of 62.05 mn cts at US$ 7.48 bn were similarly flat in volume terms falling by 0.47% y-o-y, but rising by a somewhat higher 5.36% in value terms.

Polished exports during Jan-August 2018 stood at 3.20 mn cts at US$ 7.71 bn, with a small 2.24% dip in volume, but a 2.87% increase in value, while polished imports of 4.0 mn cts  at US$ 7.82 bn, were up 5.93% in volume and 5.34% in value terms y-o-y.