23% Rise in Value, 19% Drop in Volume of U.S. Polished Diamond Imports

Rising value and sliding volume is the trend in U.S. polished diamond imports, doing so for the fifth consecutive month. Gross imports rose in May 22.8 percent to $2.311 billion while net imports jumped 53 percent to $1.038 billion.

Gross U.S. imports by volume fell 18.98 percent to 1,285,196 carats, pushing average prices up 62.3 percent to $1,793.17 per carat. Gross exports of $1.267 billion of goods with a total weight of 2,831,579 carats averaged a low $447.40 p/c.

This trade resulted in an average value of $1,345.76 p/c for the net trade in May.

One event that needs to be taken into account is the JCK Las Vegas show that opened May 30. Data on Israel and Belgium’s June polished diamond trade indicates a large level of returns from the U.S. It should therefore be expected that U.S. June figures will show an even larger disparity between imports and exports.

Israel, for example, shipped to the U.S. $1.283 billion worth of goods in May, compared to $780 million, $822 million and $793 million in the preceding months.