Japan’s Polished Imports up 10%

Japan imported 10.2 percent more diamonds by weight in the first nine months of this year than in the corresponding period of 2003. Japan imported 2,028,987 carats of diamonds.

By far the most diamonds, not surprisingly, came from India (1,486,086), followed by Belgium (207,441), Israel (120,504) and Hong Kong (116,383).

In money terms, Japan imported $831.3 million of gems in January-September, an 18.7 percent rise on last year.

Again, imports from India were the highest in financial terms at $382.4 million, followed by Belgium ($183.4 million), Israel ($136.2 million) and Hong Kong ($44 million), pointing to the lower quality goods imported from the sub-continent compared with the other major diamond centers.