US Polished Diamond Imports Slip in June, Exports Soar

(IDEX Online News) –Polished diamond imports into the United States slipped 3.6 percent on the year in June to $1.56 billion.

The average price per carat also declined – down 4.4 percent to $1,661.

For the January-June period of this year, however, polished imports jumped 10.7 percent to $11.59 billion,

Polished diamond exports in June were high, as they usually are, due to goods being returned following the JCK Show Las Vegas. However, this year they were particularly high – with a 12.6-percent rise to $2.56 billion – indicating that companies in all the major diamond hubs struggled to sell goods at the show.

The highest level of polished diamond exports were to Israel at $741.2 million compared with U.S. imports from Israel in June of $563.5 million. Meanwhile, polished exports to India were $527.7 million compared with imports of $510.3 million, and polished exports to Belgium came to $378.5 million compared with imports totaling $276.5 million.

US polished diamond exports rose 12.5 percent to $10.11 billion in the first half of this year.

In the rough diamond import category, the United States imported just $20 million worth, a drop of 62.3 percent on the year. Rough exports, meanwhile, slipped 3.6 percent to $27 million.

For the first half of 2013, rough imports dropped 17.0 percent to $212 million, while exports fell 24.0 percent to $137 million.