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ress 8elease

2013 second best year ever for Antwerp d|amond |ndustry

!"#$%&'%"( *+",+&- ./#0 .123 - 2013 has been a h|gh|y successfu| year for the Antwerp d|amond
|ndustry. 8oth |mport and export of rough and po||shed d|amonds grew s|gn|f|cant|y, w|th no |ess
than 8 for rough and 4 for po||shed trade. 1he tota| va|ue of traded goods amounted to US5 SS
b||||on, very c|ose to the record US5 S6.6 b||||on |n 2011, mak|ng the 2013 the second best year ever
for Antwerp. 1he 2013 annua| f|gures are |n ||ne w|th the trade ana|ys|s of the past decade, once
aga|n conf|rm|ng Antwerp's |eadersh|p as the wor|ds f|rst and foremost d|amond-trad|ng hub.

!"#$% '!()* #+ ,-
Cver Lhe pasL Len years, Lhe average annual dlamond producLlon worldwlde decreased from 160
mllllon caraLs Lo a sLeady 128 mllllon caraLs ln Lhe pasL Lhree years. Cver LhaL same perlod of Llme,
Lhe average prlce per caraL nearly Lrlpled, from uS$ 30 up Lo uS$ 140 per caraL. ln LhaL hlghly
compeLlLlve markeL, AnLwerp clearly demonsLraLes lLs reslllence as Lhe mosL sLable dlamond-Lradlng
cenLre worldwlde. Lspeclally Lhe pasL Lhree years lndlcaLe Lhe clLy has clearly relnforced and even
furLher expanded lLs poslLlon as markeL leader.
ln 2013 90,6 mllllon caraLs were lmporLed and 106,3 mllllon caraLs of rough dlamonds were
exporLed, equallng a comblned value of more Lhan uS$ 27.8 bllllon or a lncrease of 8 compared
2012. 1hese excellenL flgures are Lhe resulL of AnLwerp's sLraLegy Lo acLlvely expand Lhe lndusLry's
scope around Lhe globe. undoubLedly, Lhe ln-house Lender faclllLy, now fully up Lo speed and
allowlng boLh large and smaller producers can sell goods fasL, efflclenL and aL Lhe besL prlce, has
conLrlbuLed Lo Lhese resulLs. ln addlLlon, AWuC relnforced lLs Lles wlLh ma[or Lradlng parLners, such
as Lhe 8usslan mlnlng glanL Alrosa, Lhe largesL producer ln volume worldwlde, Lhrough a new
cooperaLlon agreemenL. 1oday, already a sLunnlng 63 of Alrosa's dlamond producLlon ls Lraded ln
AnLwerp.
1hls long-Lerm sLraLegy ls also deslgned Lo bear frulL over Lhe nexL comlng years, for example Lhrough
Lhe furLher lnLenslfylng of Lhe Lrade relaLlonshlps wlLh Zlmbabwe, whlch wlll accordlng Lo experLs
accounL for aL leasL a quarLer of Lhe world producLlon over Lhe nexL decade. Accordlng Lo Lhe reporL
lssued by Lhe Zlmbabwean governmenL, Lhe flrsL Lrlal Lender of Marange goods, held ln AnLwerp ln
uecember lasL year, provlded valuable lnslghLs, Lhanks Lo a fully LransparenL procedure, and
demonsLraLed Lhe poLenLlal of selllng Lhe Marange rough ln AnLwerp. A second, larger Lender
lncludlng goods of hlgher quallLy ls scheduled Lo Lake place ln lebruary. Also Lhrough fuLure
cooperaLlon wlLh Lhe Canadlan company SLornoway ln Lhe 8enard pro[ecL and oLher lnlLlaLlves LhaL
are currenLly belng developed, AnLwerp's poslLlon wlll be secured.
+"./0%*) '!()* #+ 1-
ln Lerms of pollshed Lrade, Lhe LoLal value of Lraded dlamonds amounLed Lo uS$ 27.2bllllon, up 4
year-on-year. 1he sLeep lncrease of rough prlces and Lhe consequenL decrease of proflL marglns for



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Lhe dlamond Lraders and manufacLurers resulLed ln a hlghly compeLlLlve Lradlng envlronmenL.
AnLwerp, renowned for lL's experLlse and crafLsmanshlp, clearly beneflLs from a global Lrend Lo focus
on larger, more valuable sLones.
1he uS remalns AnLwerp's flrsL desLlnaLlon for pollshed dlamonds, closely followed by Chlna.
lurLhermore, we noLlce a slgnlflcanL ralse ln Lhe Lrade wlLh boLh uubal and SouLh Afrlca, whlle Lhe
Luropean markeL remalns relaLlvely sLable.

'%* 2#'#!*3 4%(..*5$*0 (5) "++"!'#5/'/*0
Whlle AnLwerp remalns Lhe lndusLry's flrsL and foremosL dlamond Lradlng hub, lL ls no secreL
compeLlng dlamond hubs, such as uubal, Mumbal and 1el Avlv are keen Lo Lake over AnLwerp's
leadershlp poslLlon. ln addlLlon, Lhe lndusLry ls sLlll faclng serlous challenges, llke Lhe more sLrlcL rules
and regulaLlons regardlng lndusLry flnanclng, Lhe lack of an equal level playlng fleld LhaL hlghly
lncrease Lhe degree of compeLlLlon. 1o safeguard lLs poslLlon, AnLwerp wlll conLlnue Lo sLrengLhen lLs
poslLlon by maxlmlzlng lLs asseLs as deflned ln Lhe sLraLegy LhaL was seL ouL ln Lhe AnLwerp ulamond
MasLerplan, launched Lwo years ago.
1hls sLraLegy focuses on furLher boosLlng Lrade, ln Lerms of rough and pollshed Lrade, and promoLlng
AnLwerp as Lhe world's largesL, oldesL and mosL comprehenslve Lrade cenLre, boLh ln esLabllshed as
ln new markeLs. ln addlLlon, AnLwerp wlll conLlnue Lhe ongolng dlalogue wlLh governmenL, boLh on
naLlonal and supra-naLlonal levels, almed aL securlng Lhe compeLlLlve sLrengLhs of Lhe AnLwerp
dlamond companles, for example Lhrough Lhe lmplemenLaLlon of a so-called caraL Lax. 1hls speclflc
Lax sysLem, whlch enLalls a flxed Lax on a predeflned percenLage of Lurnover, would allow companles
Lo make rellable assessmenLs on Lhe flscal burden, and a such provlde Lhe much-needed oxygen for
Lhe AnLwerp companles. ln addlLlon, Lhe AWuC wlll conLlnue lLs dlalogue wlLh varlous parLners Lo
sLrlve for an equal level playlng fleld LhroughouL Lhe global dlamond lndusLry, for example Lhrough
mulLllaLeral negoLlaLlons.

AWDC, shorL for AnLwerp World ulamond CenLre, ls an lndusLry-esLabllshed foundaLlon, whose mlsslon ls Lo
serve and supporL Lhe dlamond buslness ln AnLwerp, Lhe world's mosL lmporLanL dlamond Lrade hub. AWuC ls
Lhe coordlnaLlng body and Lhe offlclal represenLaLlve of Lhe AnLwerp dlamond secLor, and as such are
recognlzed lnLernaLlonally as Lhe hosL, spokesperson and lnLermedlary for Lhe 8elglan dlamond communlLy. ln
Lhls capaclLy, AWuC llalses on behalf of Lhe 8elglan dlamond secLor wlLh governmenLs and acLlvely promoLes
supporL for Lhe dlamond secLor aL home and abroad.

84 of all rough dlamonds and 30 of all pollshed dlamonds pass Lhrough AnLwerp. ulamonds represenL 3 of
Lhe LoLal 8elglan exporLs and 13 of all 8elglan exporLs ouLslde Lhe Lu, maklng dlamonds Lhe mosL lmporLanL
exporL producL ouLslde Lhe Lu.

ress contact:
AWuC CommunlcaLlon ueparLmenL
03/222.03.41 - press[awdc.eu