Japan reports sharp drop in polished diamonds in February

Japan posted a 24 percent decline on the year in imports of polished diamonds in February to $53.6 million, according to ‎ Finance Ministry data.

In volume terms, Japan imported more polished goods – up 10 percent ‎to 149,219 carats. However, the average price per ‎carat slumped 31 percent to $359.

‎‎In January-February, Japan's polished imports decreased by 10 percent to $127.8 million.

Polished diamond imports from India declined by 8 percent on the year to $27.8 million, while imports from Belgium dropped 39 percent to $7.6 million, and from Israel were down 15 percent to $6 million.

Meanwhile, Japanese imports from Hong Kong plummeted 64 percent to $2.6 million, while from the United States they were 14 percent higher at $1.9 million.