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Antwerp Cautious Despite Polished Trading Jump
Jun 7, 2016 10:04 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... The Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) warned Belgium’s
first monthly increase in polished diamond exports in almost a year might not signal
a turnaround.
Outbound polished
shipments rose 4.5 percent to $1.11 billion in May, the first time since June last
year, according to data provided by the AWDC. By volume, polished exports
declined 1.3 percent to 480,351 carats, with the average price jumping 5.9
percent to $2,308 per carat.
Polished
imports recorded their first advance since March last year, up 6.8 percent to
$922.5 million. Net polished exports, representing exports minus imports, declined
5.6 percent to $186.1 million.
“While we are
obviously very encouraged by the polished results from May, a positive
month does not constitute a trend,” a spokesperson for the organization said in
a statement to Rapaport News. “So we
would exercise caution about claiming this is a sign of a turnaround. Our
people on the ground have also not indicated anything as such, but they may
also be hesitant to read too much into this, as are we.”
The AWDC is “not
ignoring the positive signs” but “would just prefer to err on the side of
caution,” the spokesperson added.
Rough imports soared
18 percent to $1.3 billion and rough exports surged 21 percent to $1.28 billion.
Net rough imports, representing imports minus exports, plummeted 62 percent to
$14.8 million.
Belgium’s net
diamond account, representing total polished and rough exports minus total
imports, jumped 8 percent to $171.4 million.
Trade figures
for May follow data for April that showed a decline
in polished imports and exports but a surge in rough activity. While the
month’s rough-trading results were a “cause for optimism,” the AWDC said the
Belgian industry was “not jumping to the conclusion that a full-blown
diamond-industry recovery is underway.”
During the
first five months of the year, polished exports retreated 6.3 percent to $5.54
billion, while polished imports dropped 8.8 percent to $5.23 billion. Rough
imports climbed 5.2 percent to $5.56 billion and rough exports jumped 9.3
percent to $5.74 billion.
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Tags:
Antwerp, Antwerp World Diamond Centre, AWDC, Belgium, data, imports and exports, polished trading, Rapaport News, rough trade, rough trading, trade data
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