The statistics of the Antwerp World Diamond Center (AWDC) for July 2013 show that the diamond business is going well. The volume of imports of diamonds and diamonds increased significantly in physical terms in comparison with the same month in 2012 - by 5.78% and 11.07% respectively. At the same time, imports of rough diamonds increased by 30.04% in value, while exports increased by 23.02% in volume and by 25.25% in value; the export of diamonds for the reporting month slightly decreased - by 0.79%.
In addition, the annual report of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KP), under which world diamond production and distribution is controlled and recorded, confirms Antwerp's leading position as the leading center for diamond trade.
A slight decrease in Belgian imports and exports of rough diamonds by 9.50% and 1.13%, respectively, reflects a general trend characteristic of other diamond trading centers, such as Israel, where imports fell by 41.30%, and exports - by 25.70%.
The KP's annual report also confirms that Antwerp remains the European center for diamond trade, since 95% of all European KP certificates are issued in this Belgian city.