BRUSSELS: Belgium’s polished trading slumped while rough trading jumped in July. This is in line with a trend this year that has seen growth in rough shipments but a decline in polished.
Polished exports in July fell 14 percent to $1.02 billion despite the average price increasing 1.3 percent to $1,941 per carat. By volume, polished exports dived 16 percent to 527,826 carats. Polished imports slid 17 percent to $840.4 million, according to data provided by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre. Net polished exports, representing exports minus imports, crept up 0.2 percent to $184 million.
Polished shipments to the U.S., Belgium’s largest trade partner for diamonds, plunged 30 percent to $303.8 million. Orders from Hong Kong increased 1.3 percent to $215.9 million.
Rough imports surged 17 percent to $907.7 million and rough exports jumped 14 percent to $1.17 billion. Net rough imports, representing imports minus exports, declined 5.5 percent to negative $260.4 million. Belgium’s net diamond account, representing total polished and rough exports less total imports, increased 3.4 percent to $444.4 million.
During the first seven months of the year, polished exports fell 9.3 percent to $7.71 billion and polished imports slid 10 percent to $7.3 billion. Rough exports increased 6.1 percent to $7.87 billion and rough imports increased 4 percent to $7.42 billion.
