U.S. Polished Trade Down, Rough Diamond Trade Up

In the final month of the calendar year, the United States experienced both a slowdown in its trade of polished diamonds and a commensurate surge in its trade of rough diamonds, Rough and Polished reports.

U.S. imports of polished diamonds for the month of December 2012 stood at $1.345 billion, which represented a 12.6% year-over-year decrease. It also saw a decrease in its exports of polished diamonds, albeit a smaller one. The country exported $1.246 billion of polished diamonds in December 2012, 2.7% less than it did in December 2011.

At the same time, the U.S. exported $54 million worth of rough diamonds in December, a 38.5% increase over last December. Surpassing that figure was the country's imports of rough diamonds for December, which surged to $97 million, a full year-over-year 86.5% increase, according to Rough and Polished.

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