SURAT/TOKYO (Commodity Online): Even as Surat’s is struggling to tide over the recession impact on its diamond industry, one of its big clients, Japan, has cut down on polished diamond imports.

According to reports, Japan’s polished diamond imports fell by 6.7 per cent to $55.9 million in September 2009. The country’s polished imports dropped 8.5 per cent to 170,437 carats by volume, as the average price of the stones increased 2 per cent to $328 per carat.

This fall in demand in Japan will have some negative impact on Surat’s diamond industry, which is on path to recovery now after a major setback last year.

For the first nine months of the year, Japan’s polished imports fell 23 per cent to $456.6 million, with imports down 7.8 per cent by volume to 1.629 million carats. The average per-carat price of Japan’s polished imports rose 17 per cent to $280 from January through September, compared with the same period of 2008.