The United States reported a slight increase in polished diamond imports in January – rising 3% to $1.81 billion, according to official figures.
In volume terms, there was a decrease of 4% in polished diamond imports to 805,320 carats, which helped boost the average price per carat of January's imports by 7% to $2,252.
The US figures show that polished exports surged 22% on the month to $1.52 billion, resulting in net polished imports — when subtracting exports from imports to drop 44% to $289 million. In other words the majority of diamonds that entered the country left as exports
As for rough exports – a minor factor in American diamond imports and exports – dropped 73% to $15 million. As for rough imports, they also declined sharply - down 53% to $57 million.
The strength of the American economy has helped push diamond imports, with a 6.9% rise in jewelry sales reported in 2017 by the Commerce Department.
Members of the Israeli diamond industry will be taking part, along with their American counterparts in an Israel Diamond Week event at the New York Diamond Dealers Club from April 10-12, 2018
