Israeli Diamond, Gemstone and Jewelry Administration at the Ministry of Economy announced the total diamond exports for the first half of 2015 with cautious optimism, as the international diamond industry continues to experience an ongoing crisis.
According to the Administration, there’s a slight improvement in western diamond markets, especially the US. The American market has also picked up the pace for Israeli exporters of diamonds, accounting for 44% of all Israeli gross polished diamond exports in the first half of 2015, compared to 39% in recent years.
The American market continues to be the largest market for Israel, accounting for 43.9% of all gross polished diamond exports from Israel from the beginning of the year. The 2nd largest market is Hong Kong (30.7%) followed by Switzerland (10.1%), Belgium (6.5%), England (2.4%) and other countries (6.4%).
Israel’s total (net) diamond exports in the 1st half of 2015 totaled $4.335 billion.
Net polished diamond exports in the same period totaled $2.975 billion, compared to $3.576 in the same period of 2014 – a net drop of 16.8%.
Net rough diamond exports in the 1st half of 2015 totaled $1.361, compared to $1.745 in the 1st half of 2014 – a drop of 22%.
Net rough imports in the 1st half of 2015 totaled $1.623 billion, compared to $2.054 in the 1st half of 2014 – a drop of 21%.
Net imports of polished diamonds in the 1st half of 2015 totaled $1.793, compared to %2.161 billion in the 1st half of 2014 – a drop of 17%.
