According to reports, the diamond industry is already affected by the war in Ukraine. According to a report in IDEX Online, as broader sanctions are being imposed on Russia, “reports indicate resistance from Italy over luxury goods, Belgium over diamonds, and other specific sectors was waning.”
Meanwhile, the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) warned that EU sanctions could hurt the diamond trade more than they do Russia. According to the report, embargoes could send rough prices even higher as Russia’s state-owned Alrosa accounts for 27% of global diamond extraction.
Even before Russia invaded Ukraine, AWDC spokesman Tom Neys told the Belgian newspaper Gazet van Antwerpen: “Sanctions can have a significant impact on the diamond business. It is a blow that should hurt Russia but there is a chance that we do more damage to ourselves. The Russians can easily trade their diamonds with non-EU countries.”
it must be noted that in 2020, “more than $1.1 billon of Russian diamonds passed through Antwerp,” IDEX Online reports.
In another war-related report, gold prices hit a 17-month high late last week, “as investors sought a safe hedge from market volatility.” After China and Australia, Russia is the world’s third-largest producer of gold, IDEX Online reports. Gold prices had already risen over 9% in February amid fears of a war in Ukraine.
