In February of this year, exports of polished diamonds fell by 32% in quantity to 577,144 carats, compared with the same period in 2008. In value terms the drop was even greater, down to €758.7 million, or a fall of 36.4%. Imports of polished diamonds fell by 40% by volume and 37.9% by value, down to €541.3 million and 493,290 carats.

At the root of the problem is the decline in demand from the US, which accounts for half of all world diamond sales. The US lost its first place as a destination for Antwerp exports in the January-February period to Hong Kong, although the AWDC allows that this may have been a blip caused by traders sending polished stones to the former colony in advance of the International Jewellery Show earlier this month.

Exports to Hong Kong came to €255.4 million, a decline of 27.6%. By contrast, US exports dropped by 41.1% by volume and 43.3% by value, to €223.8 million. Other main destinations, such as Switzerland, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, India, Japan, Italy and France saw similar falls. The UK, meanwhile, saw a smaller fall in volume than other importers, and in fact a 12.16% increase in value terms to €42.5 million.

The situation with rough diamonds is even worse, with exports in January-February down nearly 70% to €478 million. At the same time, imports of rough diamonds were down 63% in value.

The worry in Antwerp now is, what effect will the catastophic collapse of demand have on jobs. The sector employs 8,000 people – 7,000 traders and 1,000 or so polishers. Indirect employment – jobs in areas like insurance, security and transport linked to the diamond trade – is nearly four times greater at about 26,000. As a representative of the union ACV-Diamant pointed out, the number of jobs under threat could be as many as at Opel Antwerp, but the media attention is unlikely to be as great.

A sign of the malaise in the industry is the decision by major producers to stop mining or cut back drastically, while demand remains low. This also allows companies such as De Beers and Russia’s Alrosa to keep prices high. At January’s first “sight” of the year in London – the name given to sales to selected customers – De Beers brought out rough diamonds worth about €59-€110 million, the lowest figure for a January sight in 25 years.

• A full account of the audacious 2003 robbery of the strongroom at the Antwerp Diamond Center, which netted the gang at least €100 million, is published in the latest issue of Wired magazine. Online: http://www.wired.com/politics/law/magazine/17-04/ff_diamonds.

Changes in diamond market Jan-Feb 2009 compared to Jan-Feb 2008

Difference in volume

Difference in value

Polished stones export

- 34.96%

- 37.40%

Polished stones import

- 42.08%

- 38.04%

Rough diamond exports

- 65.59%

- 69.89%

Rough diamond imports

- 42.36%

- 63.45%

Hong Kong imports

- 7.34%

- 27.57%

US imports

- 41.10%

- 43.30%

UK imports

- 13.50%

+ 12.16%