Exports of polished diamonds from Antwerp have declined 8.3% in value and 16.3% in terms of carats year-on-year for the month of November 2014, with the centre registering exports of 4,56,660 carats with a value of US$ 1.04 billion this year as compared to the 5,45,821 carats with a value of US$ 1.14 bn of a year earlier.  An AWDC statement said that this reflects the fact that the market is under pressure.

Rough trade at the Antwerp centre however, continued to remain strong, with imports for November 2014 rising year-on-year by 15.8% and 14.1% and exports by 27% and 9.3% in terms of carats and value respectively. In actual terms the centre imported 8.7 million carats of rough with a value of US$ 1.24 bn and exported 12.7 million carats of rough with a value of US$ 1.41 bn during the month.

The performance in November is in line with the trend for the year, with rough imports and exports up by 10.4% and 14.3% and exports by 10.6% and 8.6% in terms of carats and value respectively over January-November 2014.

While commenting on the rough trade, a statement from the AWDC notes that “most diamonds imported last month came from the UAE” and that there was “a significant year on year upturn in the volume of goods coming from Canada”.

The statement also mentions the “dip in the volume  of polished  diamonds  exported  to  important  markets  such  as  Hong  Kong  and  Israel”and that “more but less expensive stones were exported to the United States”.

Imports of polished diamonds from India during November, which stood at 1,40,377.54 carats valued at US$ 13,99,72,458 were up 16.5% and 8.6% in terms of carats and value respectively, while for the Jan-Nov period the figures stood at 20,60,491.82 carats valued at US$ 2,10,11,77,148, indicating a year-on-year rise of 9% and 16.5% respectively. India accounts for 31.9% by volume and 16.3% by value of total polished imported into Antwerp.