Israel’s March Polished Diamond Exports $448 Million

Israel exported a net of $1.451 billion worth of polished diamonds in the first quarter of 2010, a 55 percent increase compared to the first quarter of 2009, Diamond Controller Shmuel Mordechai announced Wednesday. A sharp rise in rough diamond trade was also reported.

IDEX Online estimates net March exports of polished diamonds at $448.1 million, a 40.5 percent increase from the $319 million exported in March 2009.

Polished diamond imports in the January-March period increased 105 percent year-over-year to $835 million.

Compared to 2009, Israel’s total diamond trade increased 137 percent. However, 2009 was a slow business year for the diamond industry, which saw prices peak in the third quarter of 2008.

Compared to 2008, Israel’s diamond trade in the past quarter is still 27 percent lower.

The U.S. is Israel’s leading export destination of polished diamonds, with 47 percent of all shipments sent to the U.S. during the quarter. Hong Kong, an increasingly important market for the Israeli diamond industry, was the second leading destination with 27 percent of the goods. They were followed by Switzerland (8%), Belgium (7%) and UK (2%).

Rough diamond exports totaled $832 million during the quarter, leaping 164 percent year-over-year, according to the Controller’s figures. Subtracting the January and February rough exports reported by the Central Bureau of Statistics ($303.2 million and $244.2 million, respectively) Israel’s net rough diamond exports in March totaled $284.6 million, a 93.3 percent increase.

Rough diamond imports in the first quarter reached $917 million, up from $274 million the year before.

The Diamond Controller did not provide per carat data.