Yesterday (Tuesday), as Israel removed almost all Corona virus restrictions, the Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) held the first “Blue and White” diamond fair since the start of the pandemic. The fair symbolized a full return to normal activity for the Israeli diamond industry. The Blue and White fairs have traditionally been held several times a year on the IDE trading floor, to encourage trading among bourse members.
Yesterday’s fair included dozens of local exhibitors and hundreds of traders on the bustling trading floor, who displayed and sold goods worth tens of millions of dollars.
In recent months Israel’s diamond trade figures have shown a huge increase, reporting double and triple-digit growth in all trading categories.
Among the close to 50 companies presenting at today’s fair were industry leaders such as TACHE, Lili Diamonds, S. Schnitzer and Andre Messika. Both diamonds and diamond jewelry were exhibited and active trading took place during the entire day. Among the goods on display were fancy colored diamonds in a variety of sizes, at prices ranging up to hundreds of thousands of dollars per stone.
Data from recent months (March, April, May 2021) show that net rough diamond imports to Israel increased 112% over the same period in 2020 to $ 594 million. Net exports of rough diamonds increased by 116% over the same period in 2020 and stood at $ 522 million.
Net imports of polished diamonds increased by 96% over the same period in 2020 and stood at $ 855 million. Net polished diamond exports increased by 30.5% compared to the same period in 2020 and stood at $ 1.15 billion.
Boaz Moldavsky, Israel Diamond Exchange President said: “The diamond industry, in Israel and around the world, went through a very difficult year, leaving us uncertain about the future of the industry. Happily, the statistics show that the Israeli diamond industry has made a significant recovery, although this is still not felt by all those involved in the industry. The IDE management is working to enable the entire sector to return to full activity, and is in contact with all relevant government agencies to advance the industry and grow it forward.”
Meira Weisberg, Chairman of the IDE Exhibitions and Foreign Relations Committee, said: “This year’s Blue and White Fair was particularly exciting and truly eye-opening. It is the first diamond show globally in over a year, coming after such a significant slowdown in trade. Today we witnessed a sharp rebound from the pandemic slump and could feel the high demand for diamonds that we’ve seen in recent trade data.
I believe that this is just the start of what will be a very fast and impressive global recovery. At the Israel Diamond Exchange we are already preparing for two Israeli exhibitions in New York and Dubai in the coming months, to bring to our partners abroad the best of what we saw on offer today.”
