The slowdown in the trade of rough and polished diamonds that has characterised the better part of the last year, continued in December, according to figures released by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC).
During the month, the centre exported nearly 12.25 million carats of rough at a value of US$ 980.40 million. This represented a year-on-year decline of 8.03% in terms of volume and a 11.74% drop in terms of value. The slowdown in rough imports also continued, with the trade dipping by 19.51% in volume terms and by 15.0% in value terms – with 7.90 mn carats of rough being imported at US$ 648.27 million – as compared to a year earlier.
Trade in polished continued to remain depressed with a further sharp dip during the month. Exports totalled 265,054 cts of polished at a value of US$ 578.92 million, a drop of 28.05% in volume terms, and of 23.26% in value terms year-on-year. During the month, the centre imported 292,259 cts of polished at a value of US$ 537.73 million, registering a drop of 9.98% in volume terms and 24.68% in value terms as compared to December 2018.
During 2019, rough exports totalled 104.75 mn cts at US$ 9.17 bn, showing a decrease of 13.72% in volume terms and of 26.41% in value terms, while rough imports of 79.07 mn cts at US$ 7.95 bn were down 14.77% y-o-y in volume terms and 25.51% in value terms.
Polished exports during the year stood at 4.08 mn cts at a value of US$ 9.93 bn, down 14.67% in volume and 13.28% in value, and polished imports of 5.10 mn cts at US$ 10.06 bn, were down 11.10% in volume and 12.12% in value terms y-o-y.
News Source: gjepc
Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and TJM Media Pvt Ltd. is not responsible for any errors in the same.
