Rise in U.S. Polished Diamond Trade

U.S. net polished diamond imports totaled $362.78 million in January, a 28.5 percent increase compared to January 2009. Gross imports of $1.27 billion were a 68.7 percent year-over-year increase.

The volume of gross imports rose 61.5 percent to 1.08 million carats at an average value of $1,182.79 per carat. The figures were released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Israel was the leading supplier of polished diamonds in January, shipping a net of $298.34 million, followed by India, which was source of $180.64 million worth of polished diamonds. The third leading supplier was South Africa with $50.76 million of net polished diamond imports, surpassing Belgium with less than $44 million in net supplies during the month.

The U.S. exported 2.09 million carats with a total value of $910.98 million in January, averaging $436.32 p/c. That means that in terms of volume, once again, the U.S. exported more than it imported.