An IDEX Online research shows that prices of polished diamonds are up a modest 0.1 percent over June 2010, and a "handsome" 7.8 percent year-over-year. According to the research, prices of two-and-three carat stones have posted a clear gain and stones of four-carat have gained momentum.

Even India's polished exports jumped 79 percent to $2.2 billion in June 2010, according to data published by the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC). By volume, the exports fell 2 percent to 4.448 million carats as the average price on the goods increased 83 percent year on year to $495.01 per carat.

According to Sri Lanka Daily News, the country's diamond re-exports have risen 22 percent, earning the country $126 million. The U.S. polished diamond trade showed improvement on year-on-year basis, as polished exports rose 69 percent to $1.6 billion in June 2010, and polished imports by 83 percent to $1.8 billion. In the said month, net polished imports valued $168 million, from $16 million in June 2009.

Israel's polished exports rose 149 percent year over year to $457.85 million in June 2010, according to data published by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor. By volume, polished exports rose 119 percent year on year to 280,555.83 carats as the average price of these exports increased by 18 percent to $1,631.94 per carat.

The increase was driven by higher-than-normal exports to Hong Kong, which accounted for 52 percent of the total, while the U.S., Belgium, India and China comprised the respective top five destinations for Israel's polished stones. During the first half of 2010, Israel's polished exports rose 88 percent year on year to $3 billion as the average price of these stones increased by 18 percent to $1,811.58 per carat.

China's total trade volume on the Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE) in the first quarter of 2010 reached a record high of $559 million, with a 91.1 percent increase year on year, according to recent statistics from the Diamond Administration of China (DAC). Total imports and exports increased by 100.7 percent to $524 million.

Hong Kong's polished exports climbed 24 percent to $2.17 billion as Hong Kong's net polished imports, the excess of imports over exports, rose 85 percent to $775.3 million.

Belgium's polished diamond exports rose 44.5 percent to $1.09 billion, but by a mere 3.25 percent in volume terms to 680,720 carats, as compared to June 2009. Between January-June 2010, polished exports rose 32.2 percent to $5.35 billion, and by 2.5 percent in volume to 3.63 million carats in comparison to H1'09.

IDEX Online Polished Price Index is positive that polished diamond prices have "recovered almost half of their precipitous decline that occurred in 2009" and the report concludes that diamond demand will continue to grow, resulting in a November-December holiday selling season in 2010. This could see jewelry sales rise by a mid-to-high single digit level.

Hopefully the polished prices will hold steady for a while and polished diamonds will continue to move upwards again to characterize the exports performance of the diamond industry across the globe.

Courtesy: Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council

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