Antwerp diamond sector has a sparkling year in 2013

Flanders’ diamond industry narrowly missed a record year of business in 2013, with $55 (€40.3) billion in trade, just short of the 2011 record of $56.5 (€41.4) billion. The Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), which represents the diamond trade, released its annual figures yesterday.

Rough diamond trade went up by 8% compared to 2012 and cut diamonds by 4%. Ari Epstein, CEO of AWDC, said that recent years had seen a serious reduction in the production of raw diamonds. Despite that, the share of rough diamonds in Antwerp’s business has gone up, and the city handles more than 80% of all the rough diamonds in the world.

The quantity of cut stones that passed through Antwerp also rose, from 201.7 million carats in 2012 to 211.3 million in 2013. “Diamonds keep getting bigger and more expensive,” Epstein said. “Clients are investing in increasingly high-value diamonds.” The positive results last year, he said, were in part due to the AWDC’s new marketing plan, which includes a tendering system and works to bring sellers and buyers together.

photo by Ilse Dekeulenaer/Visit Flanders