polished imports in the US rose 10.6% year-on-year to $ 1.676 billion, Rapaport reports. Although the volume of imports decreased by 4.4%, the average cost of imported diamonds jumped by 15.7% to $ 1,647 per carat.
Exports of polished diamonds jumped by 28.7% in the month to $ 1.513 billion, thus, the net import of diamonds was only $ 164 million, significantly down from $ 340 million in the same month of 2012.
Import of rough in the US increased by 2.6% to $ 39 million compared to January 2012, while exports of rough diamonds fell 50% to $ 25 million, resulting in a net diamond import of $ 13 million for the same month of 2012 the net import of diamonds was negative and amounted to $ 12 million.
The net US diamond account for January 2013 (the difference of net imports and exports) was $ 177 million compared to $ 328 million in the same period last year.