DiamondBuzz
Total value of Antwerp’s diamond imports and exports fall by over a third
The total value of all Antwerp’s diamond imports and exports fell by over a third in the first two months of 2025, according to the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) as the global slowdown and the impact of lab gowns were compounded by the effects of G7 sanctions on the sole verification point.
Imports fell 36 per cent by value, from $2bn in January and February 2024, to $1.3bn in the same months of 2025 and were down by 17 per cent in carat terms, from 26.8m carats to 22.1m carats.
Exports were down by almost 38 per cent to $1bn by value and down 24 per cent to 11m carats by volume.
Average per carat rough prices recorded by the AWDC’s Diamond Office fell by over 11 per cent from January 2024 to January 2025 to $98.36 and polished prices were down by over 9 per cent during the same period to $1.940.69.
Antwerp had suffered geopolitical tensions, dwindling demand and lab grown popularity like other diamond centers, said Karen Rentmeesters, CEO of AWDC at an inaugural Town Hall meeting (on 12 March). But it was only the only hub hit by the G7 sanctions on Russia, which wiped out over a quarter of its supply. “There’s geopolitical tensions, there’s dwindling demand, there’s increased competition from lab grown or synthetic diamonds. And this has had a severe impact on the trade, on the volumes, across the board. We see it in all the trade hubs and the manufacturing hubs.”
She also noted that figures for January and February 2024 were just before the implementation of indirect G7 sanctions on 1 March 2024, outlawing diamonds of 1.0-cts or above, even if polished outside Russia.But she said Antwerp, alone among diamond hubs, had been hit by the G7 sanctions. Antwerp has been the sole verification point for rough goods entering the G7 (and the EU) countries since 1 March 2024, although the European Commission (EC) has said it will be establishing a second entry point in Botswana.
DiamondBuzz
De Beers Group Sets Out Portfolio and Organisational Actions to Support Long-Term Value Creation
Company outlines strategic cost optimisation, portfolio streamlining and operational changes to strengthen resilience while positioning for long-term growth in the natural diamond industry.
De Beers Group is advancing delivery of its business streamlining by setting out a number of planned portfolio and organisational changes to ensure an efficient cost base that strengthens resilience in the near-term while enhancing future competitiveness and retaining optionality as industry conditions improve.
Since 2024, De Beers has been streamlining its business in line with its Origins strategy to reduce costs, divest non-core assets and prioritise investment in activities that create the most value. Significant progress has been made, with more than $100 million of annual overhead costs removed from the business, the sale or closure of a number of non-core assets and significant capital and cost reconfigurations to asset expansion projects.
Simultaneously, De Beers has reinvested in natural diamond category marketing to support the industry’s efforts to grow natural diamond demand, launching new large-scale campaigns and collaborating with key stakeholders across the value chain to foster industry-wide investment. Global consumer demand for natural diamond jewellery returned to growth in 2025, while natural diamond sales increased across US independent jewellers in 2025 and into Q1 2026, led by higher value diamonds and those promoted by De Beers’ Desert Diamonds marketing campaign.
On the supply side, global rough diamond production is now decreasing, with several producers closing mines during 2026. Whilst the increasing rarity of diamonds and the emerging signs of improvement in consumer demand are likely to support longer-term value creation, rough diamond trading conditions are expected to remain challenging in the near-term due to cyclical and industry-specific factors.
Consistent with recent actions to improve business resilience, De Beers intends to pause production at the Venetia mine in South Africa for two years to reduce costs while also rephasing capital expenditure on its underground project. This will involve critical infrastructure investment to enhance the capacity and efficiency of the mine, with the intention to support future production growth as business and industry conditions improve.
De Beers is engaging with stakeholders in accordance with relevant requirements and the company’s values as it moves through this process, and will both support impacted employees and continue to invest in its community and Social and Labour Plan commitments.
This proposed action at Venetia Mine follows the decision earlier this year to pause the Tuzo Phase 3 expansion project at the Gahcho Kué Mine in Canada.
In parallel, De Beers plans to reconfigure its global operating model to refocus and prioritise resources on the core operational businesses and reduce its central corporate cost base.
Al Cook, CEO of De Beers Group, said:
“In line with our commitment to focus and streamline our business, we are making a number of changes to De Beers to ensure greater business resilience in the near-term, while supporting long-term value creation. We recognise the protracted challenging conditions as the diamond industry evolves, though we are encouraged by signs of consumer demand growth in the US and beyond, particularly in higher quality diamonds.
Global rough diamond supply is falling, bringing more support to the market. The changes we are making to our business are focused on underpinning our efficiency now and into the future, favourably positioning De Beers in its leadership role.”
De Beers Group will maintain current production levels through its other operations, and previous production guidance remains unchanged.
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