Antwerp Rough Trade Down in Q1

(IDEX Online News) – The Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) has announced a drop in rough diamond trade in the first quarter of the year. Both imports and exports of rough dropped compared to the first quarter of 2014.

Imports dropped by 13 percent by volume and 19 percent by value. Exports declined 14 percent by volume and 21 percent in value.

During the first three months of the year, Antwerp imported 24.6 million carats of rough diamonds with a value of $3.3 billion. The center exported 25.7 million carats with a value of $3.2 billion.

The AWDC said there are several reasons for the decline: currently, rough diamond prices are very high, leading diamond traders to purchase less. De Beers responded to this situation by allowing Sightholders to postpone 25 percent of their purchases.

The organization also said there has been a switch in the way that diamond traders conduct their purchases. Whereas they previously acquired entire stocks of rough diamonds, they are now increasingly only buying to fulfill orders.

The news was a little brighter for polished diamonds, whose trade remained relatively stable compared to the first three months of 2014. In terms of value, there was a 7-percent increase in the volume of imports, but a 3-percent decline in the number exported. In terms of value, imports increased 4 percent while exports rose just 0.1 percent.

During the first quarter of 2015, Antwerp imported 2 million carats of polished diamonds with a value of $3.9 billion and exported $1.7 million carats with a value of $3.8 billion.