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 The return of some of the
brokers, cutters and couriers who normally
throng the city's heavily-guarded diamond
district, known as the Square Mile, comes as two
of the world's biggest gold refiners resume
operations after Switzerland relaxed its
lockdown measures.
Belgium imposed the emergency restrictions on
March 18 to stop the spread of the novel
coronavirus, which has killed 8,016 people in
the country and infected 50,509, bringing most
businesses to a grinding halt.
Some 600 trading companies in the Square Mile
shut their doors and 90% of the diamond cutting
businesses closed, forcing most of the 500
cutters there to seek unemployment benefits,
according to Melissa Smet, executive director of
the Syndicate of the Belgian Diamond Industry.
With mines elsewhere in the world at a
standstill and much of international transport
grounded, diamond shipments to Antwerp dropped
to as little as 26 shipments a day.
This compares to an average of 400-500 shipments
per day of powder, rough and polished diamonds
totalling some $250 million before the crisis
hit, according to Karen Rentmeesters,
spokesperson for the Antwerp World Diamond
Center (AWDC).
Antwerp is also the home of Europe's
second-largest port and AWDC data shows March
imports of polished diamonds fell 73.5% from
$1.5 billion to $400 million compared to March
2019. Exports of rough diamonds slumped 51.3% to
$449 million from $922 million a year before.
COMPLEX CHALLENGE
Prices are also expected to fall. "We do see a
significant drop in prices both on polished and
rough side but it’s a complex situation,"
Rentmeesters said.
But that's not the only challenge facing the
diamond trade as business started trickling back
into Antwerp this week.
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 Preserving social distancing
rules that require ensuring a space of at least
1.5 metres between workers has already proven a
challenge in gem cutting workshops where cutting
and polishing machines are fit in closely.
Cutters have direct contact with stones and pass
on tools between one another while processing
diamonds, Smet told Reuters.
While polishers in Antwerp are specialised in
high-end stones, such as the world's
second-biggest rough diamond owned by Louis
Vuitton, the bulk of the work is done in India,
where 90% of the world's diamonds are polished,
AWDC said.
The Indian government has extended the lockdown
until May 17 and the country - facing a glut of
polished and rough diamonds - is looking to ban
rough diamond imports for up to three months,
Rentmeesters said.
AWDC said good news was coming, however, from
Asia where the phenomenon of "revenge shopping"
was bringing back customers into stores and
results of the world's leading luxury group LVMH
have been encouraging, even if some markets for
diamond jewellery - including in the United
States - are taking a hit.
For Antwerp's long-established diamond business
that thrives on trade shows and much travelling,
the lockdown has also forced a digital
transformation: from hosting the Square Mile's
first online trade show to improving
traceability and transparency.
"We are looking for ways to embrace digital
technology and that will definitely change the
way business is done for good," Rentmeesters
said.
(Reporting by Marine Strauss @StraussMarine,
editing by Gabriela Baczynska and Emelia
Sithole-Matarise)
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