The US imported $47.8 million worth of rough diamonds in June, more than a third of it from Angola. Gross rough diamond imports increased by 7.9% compared to June 2010.



Despite the large gross rough diamond imports, net imports were just $8.1 million, less than 17% of gross imports, based on US Department of Commerce figures.



By volume, imports dropped 73.4% year-over-year to 21,943 carats. Exports in June totaled 82,683 carats, declining by13.4% from the prior year.



By value, most of the goods were exported to Israel ($12.7 million) while by volume Hong Kong was the leading destination (38,996 carats).