Israel’s Polished Diamond Exports Continue to Climb (updated)

Net polished diamond exports from Israel rose 20.8 percent in July to $644 million, compared to $533 million exported in July 2006. The country exported 346,345 carats at an average value of $1,860 per carat.

In the first seven months of the year, exports increased 8.1 percent in value to $4.235 billion on exports of 2,473,535 carats, a 4.6 percent increase in volume. The average value of exports during the period was $1712 p/c.

Israel’s exports of polished diamonds have been on a path of continual growth since April.

The majority of Israel’s polished diamond exports, 66 percent, were shipped to the U.S., 14 percent of the goods were exported to Hong Kong and 4 percent to Switzerland, according to figures released by the Ministry of Trade.

Polished diamond imports in July shot up 27.1 percent to $381 million from $300 million last year. In terms of weight, exports declined 1.5 percent to 1,913,999 carats.

(Last updated August 1, 2007, 7:01 am)