Announcing highly positive results for the first quarter of 2022, the Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE) says that “the UAE looks to become the largest diamond trade hub for rough and polished combined,” IDEX Online reports.
The DDE has announced over $11 billion of trade in Q1 2022, including $4 billion in polished trade – a year-on-year rise of almost 80%. In February, the DDE said that it had overtaken Antwerp as the top trading hub globally for rough diamonds – over $22.8 billion in 2021. The DDE was established in 2002 as part of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), and hosts 1,150 diamond companies.
Ahmed Bin Sulayem, executive chairman and CEO of the DMCC, said: “After announcing that the UAE became the world’s largest rough diamond trade hub, the 80% increase in the value of polished diamonds traded in the UAE in the first quarter of 2022 clearly demonstrates that we are delivering against our target.”
