Israel’s Polished Diamond Exports Softened in September

(IDEX Online News) - Israel exported a net of $449 million worth of polished diamonds in September, a 3.3 percent decline from September 2009. Despite this decline, in the first nine months of 2010 Israel’s net polished diamond exports totaled $4.24 billion, up 62.5 percent from the $2.61 billion exported the year before.

Polished diamond imports in the nine month period increased 84 percent to $2.8 billion, according to figures released today (Tuesday) by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor.

The volume of exports in September increased 1.4 percent to 260,559 carats, averaging $1,723.19 per carat.

The year-over-year increase reflects a global recovery trend in the diamond pipeline. However, compared to 2008, polished diamond exports this year are still lagging behind some 22 percent, Diamond Controller Shmuel Mordechai noted.

Hong Kong was the leading destination of Israel’s polished diamond exports in September, $168.9 million, as they traders headed to the Hong Kong trade fair. To date, 27 percent of Israel’s polished diamond exports in 2010 were to Hong Kong.

Some $155.2 million worth of polished were shipped to the U.S., Israel’s main polished diamond exports destination.