Israel's Rough Diamond Trade Soars to $2.3 Billion in Q1

(IDEX Online News) - Israel's rough diamond trade continues to recover. In the first quarter of 2011, Israel exported a net of $1.158 billion worth of rough diamonds, a 39.6% increase from the $829 million exported a year ago, according to figures released today (Sunday) by the ministry of trade, industry and labor.

Net rough diamond imports totaled $1.144 billion, rising 24.9% year over year from $916 million.

While the scope of diamond polishing in Israel is not very large, Israeli diamond manufacturers prefer to import rough for sorting and examination purposes before exporting the rough to their manufacturing facilities in other countries, such as China.