RAPAPORT… Polished-diamond shipments out of Israel declined 6% in the first half of the year, according to data the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor released this week. The drop is the nation’s fourth consecutive first-half decline in polished exports. Export volume slipped 5%, with the average price down 1%. The nation also received a lower total value of rough during the half year than the same period in 2017.
Israel ships significantly more goods overseas in the first six months than it does in the second, as retailers restock their inventories in the early months of the year after the holidays. The figures exclude goods that traders exported out of Israel and then sent back to their home country.
| $ Millions unless stated otherwise | Apr-June 2018 | Year-on-year change |
| Polished exports | 1,261 | 51% |
| Polished imports | 749 | 8% |
| Net polished exports | 513 | 265% |
| Rough imports | 686 | -8% |
| Rough exports | 580 | -3% |
| Net rough imports | 106 | -27% |
| Net diamond account | 407 | N/A* |
| Polished exports: volume (thousand carats) | 358 | -10% |
| Average price of polished exports ($/carat) | 3,527 | 67% |
| Jan-June 2018 | Year-on-year change | |
| Polished exports | $2,418 | -6% |
| Polished imports | $1,496 | 7% |
| Net polished exports | $922 | -21% |
| Rough imports | $1,415 | -7% |
| Rough exports | $1,342 | -2% |
| Net rough imports | $73 | -55% |
| Net diamond account | $849 | -16% |
| Polished exports: volume (thousand carats) | 854 | -5% |
| Average price of polished exports ($/carat) | 2,830 | -1% |
Source: Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor; Rapaport archives and calculations
About the data: Israel is a net importer of rough and a net exporter of polished. As such, net polished exports — representing polished exports minus polished imports — will usually be a positive number. Net rough imports — calculated as rough imports minus rough exports — will also generally be in surplus. The net diamond account is total rough and polished exports minus total imports. It is Israel’s diamond trade balance, and shows the added value the nation creates by manufacturing rough into polished.
Image credit: Three Photographers. Taken at International Diamond Week in Israel, February 2018
