Hong Kong’s polished diamond imports rose 37 percent year on year to $4.5 billion in the second quarter of 2011, data published by the Diamond Federation of Hong Kong, China showed. By volume, the imports increased 1 percent to 7.113 million carats as their average price grew 36 percent to $636.62 per carat.

Polished exports rose 44 percent to $3.3 billion and net polished imports, representing polished imports less exports, increased 21 percent to $1.2 billion.

Hong Kong’s rough imports more than doubled to $686.4 million, while rough exports grew 57 percent to $497.3 million. Net rough imports, representing imports less exports, rose to $189.1 million from a deficit of $1.5 million a year earlier.

Hong Kong’s second-quarter net diamond account, representing total imports of polished and rough less total exports, increased 2.3 percent to $1.04 billion.

For the first six months of the year, polished imports rose 36 percent to $8.49 billion driven by 32 percent growth in imports from India, the municipality’s largest source country by value, and a 60 percent rise in imports from Israel, its second largest source. Imports from the U.S. increased 21 percent and from Belgium they rose 44 percent, while imports from the U.A.E., the fifth largest supplier of Hong Kong’s polished during the six months, jumped 47 percent.

Polished exports grew 46 percent to $6.5 billion and net polished imports grew 9 percent to $1.96 billion for the first half of 2011.

Rough imports jumped 71 percent to $975.8 million and rough exports increased 50 percent to $794 million as net rough imports more than tripled to $181.7 million. Hong Kong’s net diamond account for the first half of the year rose 1.5 percent to $1.78 billion.