Israeli Polished Diamond Exports Continue Rise in July

Polished diamond exports and imports from Israel continued to rise in July, pushing up year-to-date trade as well with the US buying an increased share of the goods.

Polished diamond exports from Israel reached $637 million, up 9.64 percent from $581 million last July, bringing year-to-date exports to $3.926 billion, a 21.25 percent rise over the $3.238 billion exports during the January to July period in 2003.

Polished diamond imports to the country totaled $295 million, compared to $254 million last July, a 16.14 percent rise.

Shmuel Mordechai, the new Diamond Controller, says that since the beginning of the year exports to the U.S. market increased 17 percent, to Hong Kong 45 percent, to Belgium 18 percent, to the U.K. 49 percent, and polished diamond exports to Switzerland increased by 8 percent.

The breakdown of exports by country shows that nearly three fourths (72 percent) of the polished goods were destined to the U.S. in July, making it by far the most important trade partner.

11 percent of exports were shipped to Hong Kong, 5 percent to Belgium, 2 percent the U.K. and 2 percent of the goods were sent to Switzerland.