The export of polished diamonds to Belgium in August this year rose 35.5% year-on-year to $ 548.1 million, according to data released by the Antwerp World Diamond Center, Rapaport reported. The volume of exports in carats decreased by 1.4%, but the average price per carat increased by 37.5% to $ 2,112.
Imports of polished diamonds for the month increased by 17.7% to $ 895.6 million, while the deficit of net exports was $ 347, 5 million, which is 2.5% better than in August 2012.
Belgian rough imports showed an increase of 28.4% to $ 842.2 million, while exports increased by 15.5% to $ 496.4 million. As a result, net imports of rough diamonds amounted to $ 345.8 million compared to $ 226.2 million a year earlier. In August, the net diamond account was deficit in the amount of $ 693.3 million, which means an increase of almost 26%.
During the first eight months of 2013, polished exports from Belgium rose 3.9% year-on-year to $ 9.011 billion, while imports fell slightly, by 0.4% to $ 8.815 billion. Belgian net exports of polished diamonds were $ 196 million, compared to a deficit of $ $ 174 million for the same period in 2012.