Israeli exports of polished goods were almost unchanged on the year in the first half of 2013 – at $3.23 billion from $3.30 billion a year before, according to figures released by Israel's Diamond Controller, Shmuel Mordechai.
Israeli net exports of polished diamonds slipped 2% from a year earlier, while net rough exports rose 8.1% to $1.639 billion in the first half from $1.516 billion last year.
Rough imports totaled $2.037 billion from $1.984 billion in the first six months of last year – a rise of 2.8%. Net polished imports declined 5.3% to $2.084 billion from $2.200 billion last year.
Shmuel Mordechai said a comparison of the first half of this year with the same period in 2012 showed there was stability despite the global economic slowdown and the crisis in the diamond sector. “We sense a slight recovery and hope that the second half of this year will show a full recovery in the diamond sector,” he said.
The United States continues to be the main export market for Israel’s gross polished diamond exports with 44%, while Hong Kong follows with 29.7%, Belgium with 6.7%, Switzerland with 7.8%, Thailand with 1.1%, and the rest of the world accounting for 10.7%.
