In April 2014, polished imports in the US showed an increase of 18.8% year-on-year to $ 2.032 billion, while the volume of imported diamonds remained generally stable at 883,680 carats, Rapaport reports. American polished exports for the month remained unchanged at $ 1.606 billion, so the net polished imports jumped to $ 426 million from $ 101 million in the same period last year.
American rough imports in April rose sharply by 81.8% to $ 60 million, while raw materials exports jumped 76.9% to $ 46 million. Net imports of rough diamonds more than doubled to $ 15 million.
The net US diamond account for April (the difference between net imports and exports) rose to $ 441 million compared to $ 108 million in the same period last year.
US diamond imports in the first four months of 2014 increased by 9.5% on a year-on-year basis to $ 7.488 billion, while polished exports rose 8.3% to $ 6.579 billion, boosting net imports by 18.9% to $ 909 million. Imports rough diamonds rose by 93.5% to $ 269 million, while raw material exports increased by 97.9% to $ 188 million. Net imports of rough diamonds jumped 86% to $ 80 million. The
net diamond account for the period since January to April 2014 was $ 989 million compared with $ 810 million for the same period last year.