Botswana’s Diamond Exports Double in Q1

The Jwaneng diamond mine at sunset. Jwaneng is Botswana's richest diamond mine

Botswana exported $476.9 million worth of diamonds in the first quarter of 2010, a 101.2 percent leap over the first quarter of 2009. However, this is a 48.4 percent decrease compared to 2008.

The revival in diamond exports, while not complete, is important for Botswana, which relies heavily on the contribution of diamonds to the country’s economy.

More than half of the quarterly exports, $252.6 million, were in January, according to figures released last week by Botswana's Central Bank. In February, Botswana exported $171.5 million worth of diamonds, falling to $52.9 million in March.

In 2009, Botswana exported $2.18 billion worth of rough diamonds, the country’s lowest diamond exports since 2003. In the past few years, Botswana’s diamond exports exceeded $3 billion, peeking at $3.41 billion in 2006.

Botswana is a leading global diamond producer, along side Russia, and therefore major changes in the country’s production have a great impact on the global supply of rough diamonds.