Israel's Third Quarter Polished Exports Sink 30%

(IDEX Online News) – Israel's diamond trade is still suffering from the problems plaguing it in the past year, posting a 25.6 percent decline in net exports in the first nine months of 2012, growing from the 18.9 percent decline reported for the first half of the year.

Israel exported a net of $4.34 billion worth of polished diamonds in the first three quarters of the year, compared with $5.83 billion exported in the January-September period of 2011, according to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor.

In the third quarter alone, net exports reached $1.076 billion, a 29.8 percent drop compared to the $1.53 billion exported in the third quarter of 2011, based on an IDEX Online analysis.

The drop in exports is accompanied by a sharp decline in imports as well. Net polished diamond imports in the nine-month period totaled $3.08 billion, a 26.1 percent year-over-year decline, according to the ministry.

In the third quarter, the center imported just $882 million of polished diamonds, a 35.7 percent fall compared with $1.372 billion in net imports in the third quarter of 2011.

The gap between this year's polished diamond trade and last year's is clearly widening. However, 2011s third quarter was one of large increases in exports, as a wave of large demand was just ending. Fourth quarter results will possibly show a smaller gap.

Diamond Controller Shmuel Mordechai stated that Israel's diamond trade is stabilizing, reporting "signs of recovery" compared to recent months.