Israel to Not Publish November Exports Figures

Israel’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor will not publish the country’s rough and polished diamond trade figures for November, Diamond Controller Shmuel Mordechai told IDEX Online on Tuesday. The decision follows poor exports in the month.

Mordechai confirmed that trade in November was at much lower levels than in November 2007. According to local economic newspaper Calcalist, diamond exports declined 60 percent in the month, totaling only $350 million.

It is understood that the figures are not reported to not further “depress” local traders.

In November 2007, net exports were $805 million, a 9.5 percent growth over the previous year. The last published figures, reporting trade in October 2008, show that net polished diamond exports declined 46.2 percent to $324.6 million.

While sources in the industry said the drop in exports was very sharp in November, Mordechai declined to comment on actual figures. Annual results are expected to be published in early January.

The global diamond industry, affected by the hard economic times, was hurt at a particularly bad time of the year. Most of diamond jewelry sales are made in November and December in the U.S., and this year’s season is forecasted to be weak.