(diamonds.net) - This past summer, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) shut its Antwerp laboratory and announced plans to open a new location in Dubai. The organization insisted that the two decisions were unconnected. However, to the observer, the move was a telling indication of the diamond industry’s trajectory in Belgium and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Dubai’s trade has enjoyed sharp growth since the Covid-19 pandemic. Last year’s rough exports surged 98% over 2020’s to $12.96 billion, which was 62% higher than 2019’s figure, according to the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC). Polished exports were up 70% year on year at $4.15 billion — though this was still well behind Antwerp — and gained 6% compared with 2019. And while the DMCC has not yet published detailed data for 2022, it did report a 14% year-on-year increase in its first-half rough imports and exports combined, for a total of $13.05 billion. Meanwhile, Belgium’s 2021 rough exports grew by a more modest 64% year on year to $11.12 billion, according to the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC). This put it behind the UAE for the first time. Compared with 2019, exports were up 21%. The AWDC has not released further data since January 2022, when rough exports rose 24% year on year to $953.8 million.
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