(IDEX Online) - Antwerp's rough trade was up by 11 per cent in the first half of this year to $10.4bn, compared with same period in pre-Covid 2019.The polished trade is "lagging behind" - at $7.4bn for H1 2021 - hit by the compete lack of trade shows and India's devastating third wave of coronavirus.But the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) said it was showing signs of recovery, with trade in April back to 2019 levels.The city hosted more than 75 diamond tenders in the first six months of 2021, in addition to the regular influx of rough diamonds via contract sales from major miners, said Karen Rentmeesters, AWDC's senior manager industry relations.She said: "Since the outbreak of the pandemic, there have been no trade shows whatsoever, which traditionally create a lot of movement of polished goods in the industry. "In addition, the devastating third wave in India in the first half of this year had a major impact ???,? ? but the last three months show positive signs."In H1, Antwerp imported US$5bn worth of rough diamonds, compared to US$2.7bn in H1 of the pandemic year 2020 and US$4.3bn in 2019, up nearly 15 per cent y-o-y comparing 2021 with the last "normal" year 2019. In terms of volume, imports jumped from 32m ct in the same period in 2020 and 40m ct in 2019 to 47m ct in the past six months, or a 17 per cent increase comparing 2021 with 2019.Pic courtesy AWDC