Rough diamond exports from Antwerp fell 29.09% in value terms during April 2017, though they remained almost flat in volume terms, while polished diamond exports declined by 13.31% during the month as compared to a year earlier, according to figures released by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC).

During the month of April, Antwerp exported nearly 9.44 million carats of rough at a value of US$ 903 million, a year-on-year decrease of 0.93% in terms of volume and 29.09% in value terms. The centre also reported a large y-o-y drop in rough imports – with 5.63 mn carats of rough being imported at US$ 693.9 million, a fall of 39.05% in volume terms, and of 42.94% in value terms.

Trade in polished was also slow. In April 2017, the centre exported 376,528 cts of polished at a value of US$ 779.4 mn, a fall of 16.88% in volume terms and of 13.31% in value terms year-on-year. During this period, the centre imported 401,931 cts of polished at a value of US$ 883.7 mn, with volumes falling by 24.02%, but value rising marginally by 1.12% as compared to April 2016.

Over the first four months of the year, rough exports of 42.6 mn cts at US$ 4.16 bn showed an increase of 4.91% in volume terms but a fall of 6.64% in value terms, while rough imports of 32.32 mn cts at US$ 3.61 bn registered a y-o-y fall of 7.03% in volume terms and of 15.29% in value terms.

During the year to date, polished exports stood at 16.83 mn cts at US$ 3.93 bn, down 13.96% in volume and 11.21% in value, while polished imports of 19.83 mn cts  at US$ 3.98 bn, dropped 10.10% in volume and 7.65% in value terms y-o-y.