Israel’s Net Polished Diamond Exports $456.4M in July

Israel’s net polished diamond exports in July totaled $456.4 million, according to figure released by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics. Net rough diamond exports totaled $242.8 million.

Polished diamond exports in the month are 13.7 percent above exports in July 2009. For rough diamonds, the increase is 35.7 percent. CBS does not provide trading figures by volume.

Polished diamond imports, mostly returns, totaled $566.2 million.

There is a possible discrepancy in CBS’s rough diamond figures. Rough diamond imports, Sight goods and other rough goods purchased and brought into the country for sorting and reselling, was just $39.9 million - as calculated by subtracting net exports from reported gross exports.

However, CBS also provides another figure, total polished and rough diamond exports: $624 million. Subtracting polished diamond exports leaves $57.8 million as the amount of rough imports in July.

To date, the country’s net polished diamond exports totaled $3.47 billion in the seven month period, while rough exports in the same period totaled $1.87 billion. In both sectors, the year-over-year increase is sharp - 75 percent and 87.8 percent respectively.