Antwerp: July continued to mark a stable month for the Antwerp diamond sector.  A modest decrease was only seen in in the volume of imported polished diamonds, compared to July 2013.

The rough diamond trade continues to fare well. In comparison with July of last year, the volume of exported diamonds rose by 1,22%, which translates to a volume increase of 16,37%. In terms of imports, we noticed a volume upturn of 7,72%, amounting to a surge of 19,84% in value. These strong value increases were the result of the currently strong rough prices.

Polished figures were also encouraging. The volume of exported goods rose by 8,51% compared with the same month of last year. These goods left mainly to Hong Kong, UAE and the United States. In value terms, an increase of 4,47% was observed as compared to July 2013.

By contrast, the volume of imported polished diamonds fell by 5,24% as compared with the same month of last year. The value increase of 9,21% implies that fewer but more expensive goods became available on the Antwerp market. These stones originated to a large extent from India, Hong Kong and UAE.

When comparing the first seven months of 2014 to the same period last year, we see a slight decline in the volume of polished diamonds traded, with increases in all other trade figures.