Israel's Polished Diamond Exports Down 6.9% in January-February 2006

From the beginning of 2006 net rough imports declined by 5.7%. Shmuel Mordechai: it is too early to predict how the Israeli diamond industry will perform during 2006
 
Net polished diamond exports from Israel declined 6.9% since the beginning of 2006, reaching $1.229 billion, compared to $1.320 billion in the same period of 2005, according to statistics released by the Israel Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor's Diamond Controller, Shmuel Mordechai. In February 2006, net polished diamond exports decreased by 7.8% to reach $611.4  million, compared to $663.2 million during February 2005.
 
Net imports of rough diamonds increased 9.0% to total $432.7 million in February 2006, as compared to $396.9 million in February 2005. From the beginning of the year net rough imports declined by 5.7%, reaching $782.3 million compared to $829.7million in the same period of 2005. Net rough diamond exports from Israel stood at $234.1 million in February 2006, a decline of 21.5% over February 2005, when they totaled $298.3 million. For January - February 2006 rough exports were $507.8 million, a decline of 19.9% over the same period last year, when they were $633.8 million.
 
Israel's net imports of polished diamonds since the beginning of 2006 increased by 2.4% to total $571.2 million, compared to $557.6 million in the same period of 2005. In February they decreased by 3.1%, totaling $314.8 million, as compared to $324.8 million in the same month of 2005.
 
In releasing these results Mordechai emphasized that it is still too early to predict how the Israeli diamond industry will perform during 2006. The major export markets for Israel's polished diamonds in February were the United States with 57%, Hong Kong 22%, Belgium 7%, Switzerland 3% and England 2%.