August traditionally is a slow month, due to the industry's summer holidays. Consequently the August 2012 figures are showing a downfall compared to a month earlier. The average export price per carat of polished diamonds in August this year was 1,536 U.S. dollar per carat. In volume terms, the export of polished diamonds in August 2012 decreased 19.11 percent compared to exactly one year ago to 263,299 carats. This translates into a drop of 23.41 percent in value terms to 404,376,894 U.S. dollar.

During the first eight months of this year, 4,631,074 carats polished diamond were exported. This equals a decrease of 21.78 percent compared to 2011 in volume terms. In value terms, we noted a smaller downfall of 8.04 percent for this period to 8,671,896,490 U.S. dollar.

When we take a look at the import figures of polished diamonds, we see a decline of 22.97 percent in value terms and one of 19.78 percent in volume terms compared to last year. From January to August 2012, the volume of imported polished diamonds decreased 17.91 percent, which translated in a value drop of 2.31 percent.

By studying the export figures of rough diamonds in August 2012, we see an increase of 4.04 percent to 3,756,025 carats in volume terms. In value terms however, this implies a fall of 34.43 percent to 429,875,265 U.S. dollar compared to August 2011. From January to August 2012, Antwerp exported 65,382,554 carats of rough diamond. This equals a 18.25 percent decrease in volume terms compared to exactly one year ago. In value terms, we see a drop of 15.26 percent

Antwerp imported 4,385,867 carats of rough diamond in August this year. Compared to exactly one year ago, this is a 39.57 percent drop in volume terms and a 45.61 percent decrease in value terms. During the first eight months of 2012, the import figures of rough diamonds show a 22.05 percent downfall in volume terms and a 17.52 percent decrease in value terms to 7,985,873,125 U.S. dollar compared to 2011.

U.S. imports of polished goods

Recent figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission, on the H1 (January through June) 2012 polished diamond imports, show that Belgium is the only top exporter where U.S. imports were 2% higher in terms of value than compared to the same time frame a year earlier. In comparison, US imports from Israel were down 5.90 percent, imports from India decreased by 14.00 percent.

The most significant difference can be noted in the import category below 0.5 carats. By value, imports from India were down 14.40 percent, from Israel down 18.70 percent, while Belgian exports to the U.S. in that very same category increased by no less than 60.60 percent, indicating the relevance of Antwerp as the preferred access point to the United States.