Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Ltd Congo Corp (SACIM) has carried out its first public sale of 288,000 carats of industrial diamonds in Antwerp, Belgium, according to the Consulate General of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the city.
The sale took place from Feb. 16 to Feb. 20, 2026, with technical support from Belgian diamond and jewelry firm Samir Gems and the Antwerp World Diamond Centre.
A total of 67 international companies participated, including leading buyers from China, India, the United States and Italy, according to Ecofin Agency.
The Consulate said the transaction marks the return of Congolese industrial diamonds to the Antwerp market after more than a decade.
However, the break did not completely halt exports. Official data show that Belgium remained among the importers of Congolese industrial diamonds in 2024 and 2025, receiving 3.96 million and 1.7 million carats respectively.
After the sale, SACIM, Samir Gems and the Antwerp World Diamond Centre agreed on an annual schedule for public sales, along with a framework for technical and institutional cooperation designed to strengthen the long-term presence of Congolese diamonds in Antwerp.
Don’t Miss This:
Botswana To Explore More Minerals As Diamond Revenue Falls
The transaction comes eight months after the liberalization of diamond trading for Congolese producers. In June 2025, then-Minister of Mines Kizito Pakabomba repealed a 2022 decree that required mineral sales to pass through the Center for Expertise, Evaluation and Certification of Precious and Semi-Precious Mineral Substances.
That system restricted producers to a limited list of approved buyers and could influence pricing. As a major operator in the sector, SACIM was among the companies most affected by the previous framework.
The financial terms of the Antwerp sale were not disclosed. Still, official 2025 mining data indicate an improvement in SACIM’s average sales price.
In 2024, when the sector’s average price was $9.63 per carat, SACIM achieved $11.38 per carat. In 2025, the company maintained an average price of $11 per carat, while the sector average declined to $7.4 per carat. Natural diamond prices have been falling for several years.
According to official figures, SACIM’s exports, the company is jointly owned by China’s Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Corporation and the Congolese state, dropped by half, decreasing from 2,887,100.25 carats in 2024 to 1,151,865.58 carats in 2025.
The company represented 13.5% of national production, with output slightly above 1.1 million carats.
Don’t Miss This:
China Deepens Its Critical Mineral Dominance With $1.08 Billion Copper Mine Investment In The DRC
Image Credit: SADC Mining & Construction News
