(PRESS RELEASE) ANTWERP — The Antwerp diamond district is notably busy this month, with eight diamond auctions taking place, including four running simultaneously during the first week of September. More than 1,800 diamantaires from all over the world are traveling to Antwerp to bid on 900 different parcels of rough diamonds. The Antwerp branch of diamond auction house Bonas is the only place in the world with sufficient capacity to make this possible. With eight auctions organized in such a short timeframe and the very large number of clients expected, Antwerp once again confirms its leading position as the global trading hub for rough diamonds.
Antwerp as the preferred trading hub for both producers and traders
According to Karen Rentmeesters, CEO of industry federation Antwerp World Diamond Centre, the September rush in Antwerp can be explained by several factors. “Antwerp remains the preferred trading hub for many diamond producers to bring their rough diamonds to market. On the one hand, there is the critical mass of available goods and the buyers to match them. Together, this creates the most optimal bidding conditions, resulting in the best possible prices for the goods. On the other hand, Antwerp offers a stable and predictable business environment with reliable trading partners. This unique ecosystem simply does not exist anywhere else in the world,” Rentmeesters explains.
She adds that the efforts of AWDC and government partners, such as the Belgian Consulate in Mumbai, have also played a role. Thanks to improved visa procedures, buyers from across the globe can more easily travel to Antwerp. In addition, this period of the year represents the final opportunity to purchase rough diamonds that can still be cut, polished, and transformed into jewelry in time to reach stores for the end-of-year season—a traditionally crucial sales period for diamond jewelry, especially in the United States.
Bonas in Antwerp: the world’s largest diamond auction capacity
“Organizing eight tenders, four of them simultaneously, is something that only Bonas in Antwerp can do,” says Philip Hoymans, Managing Director of the auction house. “With our 32 available viewing rooms, we are the only ones with the physical capacity to make this possible.”
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Beyond the large viewing capacity, the numbers are equally impressive: 191 cameras oversee the security of the auctions, 8 bailiffs will be engaged, up to 2,000 weight-checks are carried out each day to ensure not a single stone is left behind after viewings, 13,000 bids are expected on the 900 parcels in total, and 850,000 carats of rough diamonds (equivalent to 170 kg) will be put up for sale, with an estimated total value of USD 90 million. The rough diamonds being auctioned originate from Botswana, Canada, Lesotho, Brazil, Tanzania, Namibia, and Angola.
Diamond tender
During a diamond auction—also known as a tender—diamond mining companies sell rough diamonds directly from the mine to diamantaires through a bidding system on specifically composed parcels. The Antwerp-based auction house Bonas acts as a service provider, organizing the tenders in collaboration with the mining companies and making market expertise, staff, and infrastructure available to optimize the sales process.
