Exports of rough and polished diamonds from Belgium in June show that the trends of the first months of the 2011 are continuing, with significantly higher exports on the same period of last year. Diamantaires also continue to be willing to pay ever increasing prices for goods, with prices rising on lower amounts of goods in carat terms, according to figures published by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre's Diamond Office.

Belgium's polished diamond exports in June surged by 21.6 percent in volume terms from June last year to 827,860 carats, while rising 38.3 percent to $1.51 billion.

For the first six months of 2011, polished diamond exports jumped 28.9 percent in volume terms on the same period of 2010 to 4.68 million carats, while soaring 37.3 percent to $7.34 billion.

In the rough diamond category, Belgium exported 11.8 million carats in June, a fall of 13.3 percent, but in financial terms there was a jump of 34.4 percent to $1.61 billion.

In the January-June period, Belgium exported 63.2 million carats of rough diamonds, which was 9.7 percent down on a year earlier, but in financial terms there was a rise of 36.2 percent to $7.74 billion.

In polished diamond imports, Belgium bought 910,347 carats last month, a jump of 36.9 percent from June last year, with a 39.1 percent rise in dollar terms to $1.48 billion.

For the first six months of 2011, Belgium imported 4.92 million carats of polished diamonds, a rise of 26.9 percent on June last year, with a 36.8 percent surge in financial terms to $6.89 billion.

In the rough diamond imports category, Belgium bought 8.99 million carats worth $1.42 billion last month, a rise of 7.7 percent in volume terms, but a sharply higher 60.1 percent in financial terms from June 2010.

In the January-June period, Belgium imported 56.2 million carats of rough diamonds, a decline of 6.5 percent on the year, but in financial terms there was a jump of 44.3 percent to $7.06 billion.