U.S. Rough Imports Grows to $70M
July 14, 11 by Edahn Golan
(IDEX Online News) – The U.S. imported $70.1 worth of rough diamonds in May, according to the Dept. of Commerce, growing 14.1% from May 2010 and by 97.1% compared to April 2011.
By volume, gross imports of 67,852 carats valued at $1,033.58 p/c increased by 159.6%.
In May, the U.S. exported 157,399 carats of rough diamonds valued at $39.5 million. This is a 288.7% increase in volume and 26.4% by value compared to the previous year. The average value of exports was a low $251.03 p/c.
Net imports totaled $30.6 million, while by volume exports keep exceeding imports.
Botswana was the leading source of rough in May, $19.7 million worth of goods, followed by Angolan and South Africa.
More than half of the exported goods, $20.3 million, were exported to Belgium.