The world's diamond trading capital, Antwerp, postpones its forthcoming
industry conference in the face of the financial crisis and challenging market
conditions.

(EU) ANTWERP, BELGIUM (FILE - OCTOBER 2007) POOL -
Organisers of the annual Antwerp diamond conference announced on
Tuesday (October 21) that it was postponing this year's gathering scheduled to
take place in November due to the global financial crisis.
The conference is the biggest in the world and designed to boost the
market and build relations between producer nations and end market traders.

It also serves as a means of forcing producer nations to strictly apply
the Kimberley Process, an international certificate agreement to ensure
diamond trade is not used to support violence.
Diamonds are a vital source of revenue for Liberia, one of the world's
poorest country.
At the last conference in 2007, Liberia's President, Ellen
Johnson-Sirleaf was awarded with a diamond broach to celebrate the sale of its
first clean diamond.
The conference organisers, the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), say
the two-day meeting, due on November 17, traditionally serves as a 'roadmap
for the world diamond community ".
More than glamour and glitz, the conference, which culminates in a
lavish show, is a crucial event for traders to determine the future course of
the market and their sales.
The turmoil on the financial markets has hit luxury sales and the AWDC
says it wants to wait for the dust to settle before the big gathering.
Yet although slowing growth could cut consumer demand some may perceive
diamonds as a safe haven. Many rushed to buy gold at the start of the
financial crisis and diamonds could be used as a stable currency cache too.

For Antwerp jewellery shop owner Liama Harmandyan, the crisis has
definitely translated in a drop in sales.
Speaking at the beginning of October, when the start of the banking and
insurance slide forced governments to bail out several banks, jewellery shop
owner Liana Harmandyan said customers were fewer and harder to please.
"Well, there is less clients, there is less people on the street,
less people interested in buying jewellery. It seems that people because of
all the news it's affecting everybody, it's affecting the rich, it's affecting
everybody and people are more buyer-conscious and they are trying to save
their money for the bad times," she said.
Before the latest wave of turmoil, prices for smaller mass market
diamonds had slumped, but prices for top gems had held up. Now top-quality,
unpolished diamonds are also under pressure.
Antwerp handles around 80 percent of the world's rough diamonds and
half of all polished diamonds.
Chief Officer of Corporate Affairs at the Antwerp Diamond Centre, Philp
Claes, says it is not just a drop in sales that affects the industry but also
the credit crunch itself because diamond traders need credit.
"Diamonds are a luxury product, that's the first thing you drop
from your list when you want to buy something. That's, that's our biggest
problem. The second problem of course we face is the problems with the banks.
Banks are vital to our industry. The credits of the banks, we need those to do
business. If there is a problem with the banks, we might encounter problems
also," he says.
The AWDC says it will now focus on ways to support the diamond market.

Speakers at this year's conference were to have included the heads of
diamond giants De Beers and Alrosa, Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme and
British entrepreneur Richard Branson.