In the first quarter of 2016, Israel exported at 3 million carats of rough diamonds worth US$684.5 million, as per reports. The said exports rose in volume by around 26.7 percent on y-o-y basis, but dropped 1.7 percent in value terms on y-o-y basis, as per reports.

Import of rough diamonds amounted to 2,182,635.97 carats, increasing marginally from the same quarter the previous year. In value terms the said imports dropped 8.3 percent.

The country’s polished trade recorded a drop in both import and export value and volume, between 11.3 percent and 16.6 percent.

Of the destinations of Israel’s polished diamond exports, United States remained the main, followed by Switzerland. Other centres included Belgium, India and the UK, reports add.