Data published by the Ministry of Economy show that Israel’s polished diamond exports rose 6% year on year to US$3.552 billion in the first half of 2014.
Israel Ministry of Economy’s Diamond Controller Shmuel Mordechai noted that by volume, polished exports fell 7% to 1.335 million carats, while the average price of the exports rose 14% to US$2,662 per carat.
Mordechai also noted that Israel’s polished imports grew 3% to US$2.153 billion during the first half of 2014. The country’s net polished exports, representing the excess of exports over imports, increased 11% to US$1.399 billion.
Israel’s rough diamond imports rose 1% to US$2.053 billion although the volume of the imports fell 6% to 5.206 million carats. Rough exports increased 6% to US$1.752 billion and net rough imports, representing imports minus exports, dropped 22% to US$302 million.
Israel's net diamond account, which represents total exports of polished and rough minus total exports, rose 25% to US$1.097 billion during the first six months of 2014.
