Israel's diamond trade faced a new sharp decline in July, with rough imports and polished exports slipping significantly year on year, the Ministry of Economy and Industry reported.
Rough diamond imports to Israel declined 46% to $106 million in July, while rough exports slumped 44% to $71.4 million. Polished exports from the country fell 31% year on year to $203.6 million, while polished imports fell 34% to $193.9 million.
"The continued global downward trend in the diamond trade is evident again in the data for the month of July," said Ophir Gore, diamond controller at the country's Ministry of Economy and Industry. "The declines in Israel are in line with what is happening in the industry worldwide."
For the first seven months of 2023, polished exports from Israel slipped 25% year on year to $1.9 billion, while polished imports dropped 24% to $1.58 billion. Rough imports in January-July fell 46% to $661.1 million, with rough exports down 53% at $515.4 million.
"The global diamond industry is still in crisis," Gore added. "The estimates are that the global diamond market will begin to show signs of recovery around the last quarter of the year."
Theodor Lisovoy, Editor in Chief of the European bureau, Rough&Polished
