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Belgium’s February Polished Diamond Exports -10%
Mar 6, 2016 7:48 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... Belgium’s polished diamond exports dropped 9.6 percent
year on year to $1.6 billion in February, according to the Antwerp World
Diamond Centre (AWDC). By volume, exports dived 16 percent to 615,837 carats,
while the average price jumped 7.3 percent to $2,592 per carat.
Compared with the previous
month, polished shipments were higher in February as goods are exported to Hong
Kong for the March
show, implying the spike was seasonality-driven.
Exports to the key trading center
soared almost fivefold to $684.1 million sequentially in February, but slumped
17 percent year on year. This is typically followed by a peak in polished
imports in March as gems return from the fair.
Among Belgium’s other main
trading partners, polished exports to the U.S. fell 11 percent from a year ago to
$285.9 million. Shipments to Israel slumped 20 percent by volume but enjoyed a
modest increase by value.
Total polished imports to Belgium
slid 12 percent to $1 billion as net polished exports, representing exports
minus imports, increased 6.6 percent to $714.9 million.
Rough imports jumped 28
percent to $1.33 billion and rough exports advanced 21 percent to $1.28 billion. Net
rough imports, representing imports minus exports, rose to positive $52.1
million from negative $17.1 million a year before.
Belgium’s February net
diamond account, representing total polished and rough exports minus total
imports, grew 15 percent to $662.8 million.
During the first two months of the year, polished
exports fell 8 percent to $2.37 billion, while polished imports declined 12
percent to $1.87 billion. Rough imports increased 9.6 percent to $2.06 billion
and rough exports grew 8.5 percent to $2.07 billion.
Belgium’s net diamond
account for the year to date increased 4.8 percent to $511.3 million.
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Tags:
Antwerp, Belgium, data, imports and exports, polished, Rapaport News, rough
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