US diamond imports in March increased by 1.1% on a year-on-year basis, to $ 1.974 billion, reports Rapaport.
Imported for the specified month precious stones cost $ 2 007 per carat, having risen in price by almost 12% in comparison with the similar period of the last year.
It is reported that polished exports for the reporting month jumped by 26.1% year-on-year to $ 1.883 billion, thus, net polished imports for March were only $ 91 million, compared to $ 459 million in March 2013.
Meanwhile, rough imports in the US in March jumped by 115.8% on a year-on-year basis to $ 82 million, while diamond exports rose 150% to $ 55 million. Net rough imports in value terms increased to $ 26 million compared to $ 16 million million for March 2013.
The net diamond account of the USA (the difference of net imports and exports) in March fell by 75.4% to $ 117 million.
American polished imports increased by 6.4% in the first quarter of 2014 to $ 5.456 billion. This increased by 11.4% to $ 4.973 billion. Net polished imports fell 27.5% to $ 483 million.
Imports of rough diamonds in the US in the first quarter jumped by 97.2% to $ 209 million, and exports - by 109% up to $ 142 million. Net imports of diamonds were $ 65 million, compared to $ 36 million for the same period in 2013.