Antwerp exported 4,81,692 carats polished with a value of US$ 1.04 billion in April 2015, marking a small 2.75% rise in volume terms and a 1.24% rise in value terms as compared to a year earlier, according to figures released by Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC).

During the month, the centre imported 5,20,944 carats of polished with a value of US$ 9,400 million, a marginal decline of  1.05% in volume terms but a more significant 22.81% decline in value terms as compared to April 2014.

Imports of rough diamonds during the month stood at 61,56,554 carats with a value of US$ 907.3 mn, a fall of  20.64% in volume terms and of 31.66% in value terms as compared to a year ago. Exports of rough at 73,47,025 carats with a value of US$ 983.3 mn witnessed a drop of  20.84% in volume terms and of 34.03% in value terms as compared to April 2014.

For the first four months of 2015, polished exports stood at 21,77,934 carats with a value of US$ 4.85 billion up by 0.67% and down by 2.02% in volume and value terms respectively, while polished imports totalled 24,63,567 carats with a value of US$ 4.87 billion, up by 3.25% and down by 0.13% in volume and value terms respectively year on year. Rough exports were 330,52,834 carats with a value of US$ 4.19 bn, down 15.86% and 24.15% respectively against a year earlier and rough imports were 3,07,29,854 carats with a value of US$ 4.19 bn,, falling by 14.67% and 22.13% when compared to the same period of a year earlier.