SACIM Completes First Antwerp Diamond Sale in Over a Decade
SACIM Sells 288,000 Carats in Antwerp as Congolese Industrial Diamonds Return to Open Market
The Société Anhui Congo d’Investissement Minier (SACIM) has completed its first public sale of industrial diamonds in Antwerp, Belgium, totalling 288,000 carats.
The transaction, held from 16 to 20 February 2026, marks a significant step in re-establishing the company’s presence on the international open market.
The sale was conducted with technical coordination from Samir Gems and the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC).
A total of 67 international companies participated, including buyers from China, India, the United States and Italy.
Return to Antwerp Market
According to Congolese officials, the sale represents the return of SACIM’s industrial diamonds to the Antwerp market after more than ten years without public auctions in the Belgian hub.
However, official trade statistics indicate that Congolese industrial diamonds continued to reach Belgium during that period.
Belgium imported 3.96 million carats in 2024 and 1.7 million carats in 2025, suggesting that while SACIM’s direct public sales were absent, Congolese-origin material remained present in the market.
Following the February sale, SACIM, Samir Gems and AWDC agreed on an annual calendar of public auctions, alongside a framework for technical and institutional support aimed at strengthening the long-term positioning of Congolese diamonds in Antwerp.
Liberalised Marketing Framework
The Antwerp transaction comes eight months after the Democratic Republic of Congo liberalised diamond marketing rules.
In June 2025, then-Minister of Mines Kizito Pakabomba repealed a 2022 ministerial decree that had restricted sales to a limited group of approved buyers a system widely viewed as potentially distorting price formation. SACIM was among the producers most affected by those constraints.
Although the financial details of the Antwerp sale were not disclosed, 2025 mining statistics indicate relative price resilience for SACIM.
The company achieved an average price of $9.63 per carat in 2024 and $11.38 per carat in 2025, before stabilising at approximately $11 per carat.
Over the same period, the national average price for industrial diamonds declined to $7.40 per carat amid broader weakness in global natural diamond markets.
Production and Ownership Structure
In volume terms, SACIM’s exports fell sharply from 2,887,100 carats in 2024 to 1,151,866 carats in 2025.
The company accounted for 13.5% of national production, with output of just over 1.1 million carats.
SACIM is jointly owned by China’s Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Corporation (AFECC) and the Congolese state, each holding a 50% stake.
The successful Antwerp auction signals a potential turning point for Congolese industrial diamonds.
Under the liberalised marketing regime and with structured cooperation in Antwerp, SACIM may secure a more consistent and transparent presence in global trading centres.
