Israel Polished Diamond Trade Sinks in October

Israel’s net exports of polished diamonds dropped 46.2 percent in October to $325 million, compared to $603 million worth of goods exported a year ago. Israeli diamond traders are expressing great caution in the past few weeks following the turmoil in the financial markets.

Polished diamond exports in the first ten months of the year decreased 2.2 percent to $5.812 billion.

Some 43 percent on the country’s polished diamond exports were shipped to the U.S. in October. Switzerland was the second leading destination of exports (12%), followed by Belgium (11%) and Hong Kong (9%).

Imports of polished diamonds totaled $278 million, a 44.4 percent year-over-year decline.