Israeli net exports of polished diamonds in May totaled $601 million, according to data published by the country’s Central Bureau of Statistics.

Although the export figures were 64.2 percent higher than those for May 2009, there was a slump in demand for diamonds a year earlier in the wake of the global financial crisis, particularly in Israel’s main export market – the United States.

A better comparison might be with May 2008 when prices and exports were reaching peak levels. Israel exported a net $1.02 billion of polished diamonds in May two years ago.

For the first five months of this year, Israeli net polished diamonds exports totaled $2.55 billion.

Meanwhile, Israel’s imports of polished and rough diamonds in May totaled $647.1 million, according to the CBS figures. The CBS does not provide a breakdown for diamond imports, or supply data in volume terms.

Credit is given to AWDC online by DiamondTopics.com