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China’s 2015 Polished Diamond Imports -14%
Mar 22, 2016 4:00 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... China’s polished diamond imports declined 14 percent to
$6.69 billion last year as the nation’s economy slowed and consumer sentiment dropped.
The country’s imports of polished fell in each
of the first three quarters of 2015 from corresponding periods in the previous
year, but picked up slightly in the final quarter, according to data released
by the China Customs Information Center.
The news comes
after a similar-sized
decrease in polished imports into Hong Kong in 2015.
Jewelry retailer Chow Tai Fook, whose
Chinese New Year sales this year slid 29 percent, blamed weakening consumer
sentiment and the nation’s economic slowdown on reduced sales and said Chinese
people were travelling outside of the country rather than shopping in their
home nation.
By volume, polished imports into
China dropped 17 percent to 7.6 million carats, with the average price
increasing 3.7 percent to $883 per carat.
Polished
exports fell 21 percent to $2.14 billion, leaving net polished imports down 10
percent to $4.55 billion.
Rough imports slumped 45
percent to $764 million and rough exports dived 50 percent to $27 million,
meaning net rough imports were 36 percent lower at $1.77 billion.
The country’s 2015 net diamond account slid 17 percent to positive $5.29
billion from positive $6.4 billion a year earlier.
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Tags:
China, China imports, China retail, Chinese retail, imports and exports, polished, Rapaport News
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