Japan's Polished Imports Fall 4.8% in December: Drop 2.2% in 2005
February 05, 06 by IDEX Online Staff Reporter
Imports of polished diamonds into Japan fell 4.8 percent in December 2005 to $80.1 million. Japanese imports for the January – December period also registered a decrease, falling 2.2 percent to $1.15 billion.
Japan imported 158,732 carats of diamonds in December, down 10.2 percent compared to December 2004. During the January – December period the country imported 2,450,840 carats; a 7.8 percent decrease compared to the same prior year period.
India continues to be the leading source of polished diamonds into Japan. India exported 102,607 carats of diamonds, worth $25.9 million in December, down 22.1 percent in value and 20 percent in volume compared to the same prior year period.
Belgium, the second leading source of diamonds, shipped 19,468 carats of goods valued at $22.8 million; a 1.2 percent increase in volume and a 27.3 percent increase in value. Israel exported 8,768 carats, worth $10.7 million during the period; a 4.4 percent decrease in volume and a 7.2 percent fall in value.
For the January – December period, India exported 1,729,149 carats to Japan, worth $485.6 million; a fall of 9.9 percent in volume and 6.8 percent in value.
For the same period, Belgium exported 263,693 carats to Japan, valued at $259.2 million; a fall of 4.6 percent in volume and 5.1 percent in value.
From January – December, Israel exported 132,782 carats to Japan, worth $158.9 million; a fall of 14.2 percent in volume and 14.7 in value.
