Israel's polished diamond exports up 65 percent in April

Statistics published for April by the Israel Ministry of Industry and Trade's Diamond Controller point to an increase of 65.3% in exports of Israel's polished diamonds in dollar terms, from $268.9 million in April 2001 to $444.4 million in April 2002.

Israel's polished exports from January - April 2002 stood at $1.77 billion, compared to $1.53 billion for the same period in 2001. This represents an increase of 15.7 percent.

Rough imports in April 2002 went up 16.1% to reach $294.7 million, while rough exports rose 54.2% in April to reach $131.3 million. While rough imports from January - April 2002 declined by 2.8% to $1.15 billion, rough exports for the same period rose 11% to $452.6 million. Polished imports from January - April 2002 increased 4.6% to $610.8 million.

The remarkable increase in the export of polished diamonds and the positive performance in other categories is seen here by diamond leaders as a clear sign that the Israel diamond industry is poised for further growth. Moshe Schnitzer, Chairman of the Israel Diamond Institute said: "The industry in Israel is back on a growth track.
The healthy foundations of our industry - its expertise, flexibility, creativity — enabled us to cope with last year's difficulties and to emerge stronger than before.“He added that he is very encouraged by the number of buyers who are visiting Israel at this time.
”With the positive turn of events in the region, we look forward to welcoming an increasing number of buyers to Ramat Gan," he said.

Gross exports to the United States, still by far the largest market for Israeli diamonds, were $1.83 billion for the first four months of 2002, compared to $1.56 billion for the same period last year. Polished exports to Belgium rose from $165 million in January -April 2001 to $173 million for the same period in 2002.

Moshe Schnitzer noted that the United States economy is beginning to recover, and he believes that the world economy will soon reflect this trend. “Economic growth in America, Europe and the Far East, our major markets, means that our industry can look forward to continued growth in 2002 and beyond,” he said.

Source: Sharon Gefen Marketing & Communications press release
May 2002