JERUSALEM: Israel’s polished diamond exports valued $3.84 billion after a 2.5 percent dip on y-o-y basis, for the first nine months of 2016, as per data of the Israel’s Ministry of Economy, reports say. The country’s polished diamond exports in terms of volume dipped 16 percent to 1.5 million carats. There was a surge of 17 percent in the average price valuing $2,629 per carat.
The rough diamond exports rose 16 percent to $2 billion, while imports were 11 percent higher over the same period last year and totalled $2.36 billion, as per reports. The net rough imports (imports minus exports) dropped 11 percent to $356.2 million.
Israel’s polished diamond imports dropped 7 percent to $2.37 billion. The net polished exports (exports minus imports) rose 6 percent to $1.46 billion. The country’s polished diamond exports to US declined – 0.3 percent to $1.47 billion, while that to Hong Kong slipped 9 percent ($1.03 billion) and that to Belgium was down by 17 percent ($288.4 million), reports add.
