Japan Diamond Imports Decline 2.1% in February
April 10, 08 by Edahn Golan
Japan’s polished diamond imports continue to slide, decreasing in February to $66.22 million, a 2.1 percent year-over-year decline. Imports from India, Japan’s leading supplier with nearly 40 percent by value and over two thirds by volume, declined some 15 percent in value and volume.
India shipped $26.31 million worth of goods with a total weight of 112,384 carats, an average value of $234 per carat.
Conversely, imports from Belgium shot up 38.2 percent in value to $19.12 million, about 29 percent of Japan’s total imports in February. However, imports from Belgium in volume have declined 12.1 percent, causing the average value to rise to $1,381 per carat.
The average value of Israel’s polished goods supply was also high – at $1,326 per carat – however, these imports were also a decline – $7.19 million, a 7.1 percent fall from February 2007.
A surprising high volume of goods was shipped from Thailand; imports from this source shot up 622.7 percent to 24,436 carats. These goods, averaging $105 per carat, must have been far less in value than last year’s supplies, as they rose only 9.3 percent year-over-year to $2.57 million.
