U.S. Polished Diamond Imports -3% in May

U.S. polished diamond imports fell 2.7 percent year on year to $3.105 billion in May, leading up to the JCK Vegas show, marking the first annual decline for that month since 2009, Rapaport reported. The average price for imported polished goods slipped 3.1 percent to $2,052 per carat. Meanwhile, polished exports jumped 32.7 percent to $1.97 billion, leaving net polished imports down 33.5 percent to $1.135 billion. The average price for polished exports surged 29.3 percent to $2,310 per carat.
Rough diamond imports rose 15.1 percent to $61 million, while rough exports surged 213 percent to $47 million, leaving net imports of $14 million compared with $38 million in May 2013. The net diamond account in May, reflecting the total of net polished and rough imports, dropped 34.2 percent year on year to $1.149 billion.
Polished diamond imports for the first five months of the year have risen 5.6 percent to $10.593 billion, driven by an 11 percent increase in price per carat at $2,050.  Polished diamond exports jumped 13.1 percent to $8.549 billion, leaving net imports of $2.044 billion, down from $2.474 billion in 2013. Rough diamond imports rose 71.2 percent to $330 million and rough exports surged 113.6 percent to $235 million, leaving net imports up 16 percent to $94 million. The net diamond account for the first five months of the year fell 16.3 percent to $2.138 billion.