Diamond trade volume doubles at DDE last year

DUBAI, Apr 11 (Commodity Online): Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE), One of the world's leading diamond trading platforms said total diamond trade volume last year hit 268.7 million carats, up by 50 per cent from 178.1 million in 2009. In a press note, DDE, a subsidiary of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority (DMCC) however said the value doubled from $17.9 billion to $35.1 billion. Polished diamond imports during the twelve months of 2010 rose 88 per cent to 90 million carats ($13.3 billion) and polished diamond exports rose 128 per cent to 73.6 million carats ($14.6 billion). Dubai also recorded a 100 per cent increase in the volume of total polished diamonds traded, reaching 163.8 million carats. Rough diamond imports, rose by up to 13 per cent during the year recording 50.4 million carats and exports by 3 per cent at 54.7 million carats. However, the value of rough diamonds increased dramatically during 2010 and this was reflected in the difference in value year on year. The value of rough diamonds imported rose 83 per cent to $3.3 billion and rough diamonds exported by 81 per cent to $3.8 billion. Furthermore, Dubai's rough diamond trade increased by 7 per cent reaching 105 million carats with the value growing by 82 per cent to US$7.1 billion. Dubai's diamond trade was mainly driven by India, Belgium, Hong Kong and Switzerland which were the top trading partners, with growing trade emerging from new markets such as Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The data used to calculate these numbers are provided by the Dubai Customs Strategy & Corporate Excellence Department Statistics Section for import and export data. Ahmed bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman of DMCC, said."To facilitate the import and export of over US$35 billion of diamonds through Dubai is an amazing achievement, especially under the challenging economic environment. From the beginning, our strategy has been to focus on providing the legal framework, purpose-built facilities, and value added services to facilitate the trade of diamonds through Dubai. As a result of our accomplishment, we are now one of the fastest growing diamond centres in the world, and service over 300 regional and international precious gem clients under one roof."