Israel’s net polished diamond exports declined 21% in April, reaching $334.9 million, compared with $423.7 million in 2004, according to statistics reported by the Israel Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor’s Diamond Controller, Shmuel Mordechai—who said that the decline could be attributed to returns of inventory from two international trade shows that were held in March.

For the year to date (from January to April), Israel’s net polished diamond exports rose 6.3%, reaching $2.278 billion, compared to $2.144 billion for the same period in 2004.

In April, net rough diamond imports declined by 6.6% to $292.7 million, as compared to $313.3 billion in 2004. For the year to date, net imports of rough diamonds dropped by 1.5% to $1.594 billion, compared with $1.617 billion for the same period in 2004.

Rough diamond exports from Israel continued to rise, increasing

In April, rough diamond exports from Israel rose 24.7% to total $226.4 million, compared with $181.6 million in 2004. For the year to date, rough diamond exports increased 17.4% to $1.132 billion, compared with $964 million for the same period last year.

In April, Israel’s imports of polished diamonds increased 25.4% to $281.8 million, from $224.8 million in the same period in 2004. For the year to date, imports of polished diamonds 15.7% since the beginning of 2005 to reach $1.171 billion, compared to $1.013 billion from the same period in the previous year.

The major export markets for Israel’s polished diamonds in March were the United States with 62%, Hong Kong 15%, Belgium 9%, Switzerland 5%, and England 2%.

JCK