Shanghai Diamond Trade Value Up But Volume Down

The latest figures to emerge from the epicenter of China's diamond trade suggest that dollar value of the imports and exports actually rose modestly in the first half of the 2013 calendar year, Diamond World reports. But these numbers are somewhat deceptive, because the actual volume of diamonds imported and exported dropped significantly during these six months, when measured year over year.

Between January and June 2013, diamond trade at the Shanghai Diamond Exchange stood at $1.98 billion, a 2.4% year-over-year increase, but the volume of said trade stood at 33.93 million carats, which amounted to a 37.6% year-over-year decrease.

A vast gulf was observed between import trends for rough diamonds and polished diamonds during this period. In 2013 H1, Shanghai imported $726 million worth of polished diamonds, a 19.3% increase, but only $4.39 million of rough diamonds, a 182% decrease, according to Diamond World.

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