Belgium’s Polished Diamond Trade Drops 20% In July

(IDEX Online News) – A significant slowdown in Belgian diamond trade in July, as it drops some 20 percent by nearly any measurement. The slowdown is not surprising. Many traders in the past few weeks have complained that the Antwerp market has been very slow in the past few weeks.

Belgium exported $1.56 billion worth of polished diamonds in July, a 19.7 percent year-over-year decline. The volume of exports fell 22.9 percent to 911,113 carats, according to figures published today (Monday) by AWDC.

Imports by the diamond-trading center totaled $1.18 billion, down 20 percent. Here too, the volume of imports dropped 23 percent to 680,710 carats.

The decline in trade is a deterioration compared to the June, during which trade cooled to flat with the previous year.

The decline should be placed in its proper context: Polished diamond trading sizzled last year, peaking in July 2011. The August figures are expected to be far more moderate.

The most significant decline in exports is to India, falling 60.5 percent to $72.6 million.

Source: AWDC