In the first quarter of 2010, Japan’s polished diamond imports amounted to $174 million, reflecting almost the same level as the first quarter of last year, reports say. There was just a 1.3 percent drop in volume of the said imports to 572,906 carats. Average price per carat for the polished diamond increased by 1 percent to $303.69 per carat, reports add.

Region-wise, polished imports from Hong Kong rose 17.6 percent to $17.2 million, but dipped by 9 percent to $73 million from India and by 27.7 percent to $41.8 million from Belgium. Polished diamond imports from Israel also decreased by 14.6 percent to $20.1 million, reports say.

Reports say that polished imports in February increased 13 percent to $54.3 million, in March by 17 percent to $69.4 million, but it had dipped 14.9 percent to $50.3 million in January.