Belgium Polished Diamond Trade Sinks in October

A sharp drop in international polished diamond trade was witnessed in Belgium in October. Polished diamond exports shrunk 4.32 percent year-over-year to $905.2 million, while the volume of exports decreased 13 percent to 682,692 carats.

Exports to the U.S. declined 0.7% by value and 24.7% in volume as buyers focused on higher ticket items

Imports of polished fell 17.6 percent in October to $968 million while the volume of imports was slashed by more than half (53.3%) to 789,986 carats from 1,691,246 carats imported in October 2007.

The declines come as retailers feared a weak holiday season in the U.S. and shifted purchases to higher ticket items, and cash strapped Israeli traders limited their buying on the wholesale market.

Exports to the U.S. declined only marginal in value (0.7%) but by nearly a quarter (24.7%) in volume. Exports to Israel were down 22.94 percent in value to $90.9 million and 43.3 percent by volume.

The one region to which exports grew was the UAE, where shipments soared 58 percent to $83.53 million on 66,226 carats of goods, a 48.6 percent rise over 2007.