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Antwerp remains prime diamond trading hub

Thursday, 8 August, 2013
Diamond data

Antwerp's July monthly figures indicate the Antwerp diamond business is going well. Both imports of polished and rough diamonds rose significantly compared to the same month in 2012, by 5.78% and 11.07% respectively in terms of volume. Rough imports total value even increased by a solid 30.04%. Rough exports increased by 23.02% in carats and 25.25% in value, while exports of polished diamonds slightly fell by 0.79%.

In addition, the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme Annual Report (KPCS), charged with controlling and mapping the worldwide diamond production and distribution, confirms Antwerp's leading position as the world's prime diamond trading hub. The slight decrease in both Antwerp's imports and exports of rough diamonds, respectively of 9.50% en 1.13%, is an indication of a general trend noticeable in other centres, such as Israel, where the decrease is in the double digits, with imports down by 41.30% and exports by 25.70%. The KPCS Annual Report also confirms Antwerp remains the European diamond trading hub, as 95% of all European KP Certificates are issued in Antwerp.

Furthermore, numbers indicate India continues to be the most important manufacturing hub, importing 151.9 million carat in rough diamonds in 2012. At the same time, Antwerp clearly remains the world's foremost rough diamond trading hub. In 2012, 76.5 million carats of rough diamonds were imported, while 104.4 million carats of uncut stones were exported. In comparison, combined, Antwerp's direct competitors Dubai and Tel Aviv imported 76.5 million carats and exported 74.2 million carats of rough diamonds.

Finally, the amount of KP Certificates, handled in Antwerp, remains stable at 38,000, while for example, the amount of Israeli KP Certificates fell from 14,000 to 13,000 in 2012.

Antwerp continues to be the world's most important diamond trading centre, and clearly proves to be the most stable market in the worldwide diamond trade. More information on the KPCS Statistics can be found on the KP's Statistics website.