The total value of Dubai’s diamond trade, including rough and polished diamonds, rose 12 percent to $39 billion in 2011, the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) reported cited by Rapaport. The group did not provide separate import and export data for the year but stated that approximately 225 million carats of diamonds were traded in the Dubai Diamond Exchange during the year.
According to the Kimberley Process, rough diamond exports to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) grew 66 percent to $5.87 billion in 2011, while rough imports jumped 80 percent to $3.7 billion. By volume, rough exports rose 1 percent to 47.214 million carats while rough imports grew 20 percent to 52.083 million carats.
The value of gold traded through the DMCC increased 35 percent year on year to a record $56 billion, reflecting both an increase in volume and prices. The trading volume for gold rose 6.3 percent to 1,200 tons at an average price of $1,571 per ounce.
In the first half of 2012, the Dubai Gold and Commodity Exchange’s (DGCX) volume rose 172 percent to 3,848,002 contracts, driven by significant surges in gold and Indian rupee futures trading.
“Our strategy is to continue enhancing commodity trade flows through Dubai by enabling businesses to access new markets as they shift from West to East and North to South,” said Ahmed Bin Sulayem, DMCC’s executive chairman.
DMCC, the licensing authority for the Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT) Free Zone, registered a 60 percent growth in new companies during the first half of 2012, compared with the same period in 2011. In the first six months of the year, DMCC registered 975 new companies, bringing the total number of businesses operating in the JLT Free Zone to over 4,600.
DMCC did not provide diamond trading data for the first six months of 2012.
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