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Israel's Polished Exports +12% in 2013
Jan 14, 2014 6:15 AM
By Deena Taylor
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RAPAPORT... Israel’s polished diamond exports grew 12 percent year on year to $6.22 billion in 2013, the Israel Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor reported.
Shmuel Mordechai, Israel’s diamond comptroller, said that the industry showed signs of improvement in 2013 and made an effort to overcome the crisis it experienced in 2012 through its participation in conferences, exhibitions and industry trading events, including Israel and U.S. diamond weeks that were held in Israel and New York. The ministry also noted the substantial participation of Israeli diamantaires at exhibitions in the Far East, which helped drive up trading activity.
Despite witnessing signs of recovery toward the end of the year, Mordechai added that some diamantaires reported tight profit margins as they rejected rough supply due to a widening gap between rough and polished price trends.
Polished exports to the U.S. rose 14 percent to $2.32 billion in 2013, while polished exports to Hong Kong increased 6 percent to $1.68 billion. Polished exports to Switzerland in 2013 amounted to $380 million, while exports to Belgium totaled $451 million and those to India amounted to $145 million.
Israel’s polished imports increased by 1 percent to $4.3 billion during the year. The country’s net polished exports, representing the excess of exports over imports, rose 47 percent to $1.92 billion.
Israel’s rough diamond imports increased 4 percent to $3.99 billion, while rough exports dropped grew 5 percent to $2.94 billion. Net rough imports, representing imports less exports, rose 2 percent to $1.05 billion.
Israel’s 2013 net diamond account more than tripled to $872 million.
Mordechai implored rough suppliers to reduce the gap between rough and polished prices and stressed that the local industry will continue to explore channels to enable its continued development.
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Tags:
Deena Taylor, diamonds, Israel, Polished Diamonds, Shmuel Mordechai
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