Polished diamond trade through Antwerp was slow in August, reflecting the tough economic state of the trade – as well as Europe's. Polished diamond exports fell 23.4% year on year to $404.4 million. Belgium's diamond sector was mostly on vacation in August, as evident from the 50.7% month-over-month decline.



However, the figures, released Monday by AWDC, also show that traders accumulated many goods. Polished diamond imports of $760.7 million worth of polished diamonds are 88.1% more goods then were exported.



The volume of trade also declined. Exports of 263,299 carats are 19.1% year-over-year decline. Imports declined 19.8% to 539,877 carats, according to AWDC.



Not all declines were that drastic. It seems that price points are somewhat immune to the economic situation. The average value of exports stood at $1,535.81 per carat in August, a 5.3% decline.



The average value of imports declined only 4.0% to $1,408.97 per carat. The difference in average value between imports and exports indicates the trade's added value – in this case 9.0%.



AWDC sought to emphasize that Belgium is faring better than the two other main trading centers, India and Israel, by comparing imports to the U.S. Imports from Belgium in the first half of 2012 increased 2.0% year-over-year, while imports from Israel declined 5.9% and India by 14.0%.