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Data recently released by Russia's Ministry of Finance indicates that the country's export of rough diamonds in the first quarter of 2012 decreased both by volume and by value, compared to the same period in 2011, Rough and Polished reports.

 

In the first three months of the 2012 financial year, Russia exports 8.564 million carats of rough diamonds, valued at $1.033 billion. The former figure is a reduction by 7.3% year over year, while the latter figure is a reduction by 30.3% year over year.

 

The country that purchased the largest amount of rough diamonds from Russia in 2012 Q1 was Belgium, procuring 5.129 million carats. Other countries that consumed significant amounts of Russian rough diamonds during the same three-month period were, in descending order, India, the United Arab Emirates and Israel.

 

While Russian exports of rough stones decreased, its imports increased. In Q1, the country's diamond industry imported 52,126 carats of rough diamonds at a total cost of $26.084. These numbers represented a 15.2% increase by volume and a 100% increase by value.