Commodity Online
SURAT/BRUSSELS/TEL AIV: Like the case of Surat, Belgium’s diamond industry is also facing the impact of recession in a very bad patch.

Surat’s diamond industry has witnessed lakhs of job losses and hundreds of suicides following a fall in demand for polished diamonds in the US and Europe. Surat’s major chunk of diamonds are exported to the US.



Thousands of diamond polishing units had closed shop in the past few months in Surat following the slump in demand.

S similar situation is being reenacted in Belgium and Israel, two leading nations in diamond exports.

According to reports, Belgium’s diamond trade faced major losses in April. The country’s polished diamond exports crashed by 46 per cent to $599.4 million in April. Again, polished imports declined by 43 per cent to $668.9 million for the month, and net polished exports, measuring the extent to which exports exceeded imports, dropped 13 per cent to a deficit of $68.7 million for the month.

Belgium’s rough imports decreased 58 per cent to $399 million, while exports decreased 37 per cent to $609.8 million.

Net rough imports — rough imports less exports — widened their deficit for the month to $210.8 million, from negative $21.2 million a year earlier. Belgium’s April net diamond account, representing the difference between total exports and total imports, was $142.1 million, compared with negative $39.8 million last year.

During the first four months of the year, polished exports fell 38 per cent to just over $2.6 billion, while polished imports dropped 39 per cent to almost $2.6 billion.

Media reports said net polished exports of Belgium declined 7 per cent to $44.8 million. Rough imports for January through April decreased 59 per cent to $1.6 billion and rough exports were down 58 per cent to $1.7 billion. Net rough imports shrank its deficit by 39 per cent to negative $117.5 million.

Belgium’s net diamond account fell 33 per cent to $162.3 million for the first four months of 2009. Belgium’s year-to-date polished exports to Hong Kong dropped 5.6 per cent to $534.9 million, while exports to the US fell 30 per cent to $626.1 million.

Same is the case with Israel, which saw a slump of 28 per cent in its polished diamond exports to $269.1 million in April.

Polished exports fell 57 per cent in the first quarter of 2009. Rough exports dropped 59 per cent to $108.3 million in April.

The country’s total diamond exports, of rough and polished combined, fell 41 per cent to $377.4 million in April.

Total imports declined 62 per cent to $302.3 million. Israel’s April net diamond account, representing the extent to which total diamond exports exceeded imports, stood at $75.1 million, compared with a deficit of $146.5 million in April 2008.

During the first four months of the year, Israel’s polished exports decreased 52 per cent to $1.2 billion, while rough exports dropped 68 per cent to $435.3 million.

Total exports fell 58 per cent to $1.6 billion, and total imports declined 69 per cent to $992.1 million. As a result, Israel’s net diamond account for January through April fell 11 per cent to $649.4 million.

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