Rough diamond exports from Antwerp rose 13.94% during the month of July 2016, even though the trading in polished continued to be sluggish, with exports dipping by 14.44% during the month as compared to a year earlier, according to figures released by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC).

During the month, Antwerp exported nearly 9.10 million carats of rough at a value of US$ 1.17 billion, an increase of 28.85% and 13.94% respectively. The centre also imported 6.35 mn carats of rough at US$ 907.72 million, an increase of 22.26% and 16.50% in volume and value respectively.

The polished trade however, remained slack. In July, 527,826 cts were exported at a value of US$ 1.02 bn, a drop of 15.56% in volume and 14.44% in value as compared to a year prior. During this period, the centre imported 454,347 cts of polished at a value of US$ 840.42 mn, with the volume down by 12.82%, and value declining by 17.09% as compared to July 2015.

For the year-to-date, rough exports totalled 65.48 mn carats at a value of US$ 7.87 bn, up 14.87% and 6.06% in volume and value terms respectively as compared to last year, while polished exports remain sluggish at 3.46 mn cts with a value of US$ 7.71 mn, declining by 9.89% and 9.26% year-on-year.