In January-July 2020, rough and polished diamond trade in Antwerp almost halved compared to the previous year. This is evidenced by data released by the Antwerp World Diamond Center (AWDC), which attributes this decline to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
In January-July 2020, Antwerp exported 29.2 million carats of diamonds, earning $ 2.6 billion. In January-July 2019, rough diamond exports totaled 61.1 million carats worth $ 5.7 billion. The decline in exports this year amounted to 52.23% by volume and 55.37% by value.
Rough imports decreased by 17.72% amounting to 37.4 million carats in January-July 2020 (against 45.5 million carats in 2019), and they fell by 36.20% in terms of value amounting to $ 3.1 billion (against $ 4.9 billion in 2019).
Polished exports from Antwerp during this period in 2020 amounted to 1.4 million carats against 2.7 million carats in 2019 (-47.19%) to the amount of $ 3.1 billion against $ 6.8 billion in 2019 (-54.90 %).
Polished imports reached 1.8 million carats in 2020 against 3.3 million carats in 2019 (-45.81%) to the amount of $ 3 billion against $ 6.8 billion in 2019 (-55.66%).
Antwerp exported most of its polished goods to the USA, Hong Kong, Israel, the UAE and Switzerland.
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