U.S. Stone Imports Mixed in Third Quarter 2011
U.S. stone-import numbers aren’t showing a breakdown in the industry’s economic recovery – but there’s no breakout, either.
Data from this year’s third quarter shows a small improvement from 2010 in the value of granite slab and tile coming into the United States. Volume, though, is off by 10 percent, due mainly to fewer shipments from Brazil.
Quarterly tonnage of other stones, such as marble and travertine, run ahead of last year with good third-quarter showings – continuing a slow-but-steady climb since the nadir year of 2009.
But it’s granite – the driving force in the dimensional-stone’s market rise in the mid 2000s – that muddles through this year, especially in the usually robust July-September period.
GRANITE
The import-stone picture looked fuzzy when reports came in for the first half of 2011. At that point, any measure of growth would come through the summer and early fall.
Monthly data for U.S. stone trade is collected from several sources and distributed through the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) on a 40-day delay. The last of the numbers for this year’s third quarter became available last month.
And, as far as granite goes, the story is, well … to be polite, dull.
Import numbers come in two flavors – value and volume. The first is the declared valuation of shipments for customs purposes; the second is the actual tonnage coming through U.S. ports-of-entry.
The value part can be a fun number, mainly because the totals are large (hundreds of millions of dollars) and give stone a premium identity. The values frequently increase, which supplies quick fuel to optimism about the stone market in general.
Volume, though, indicates the actual amount that’s being brought into the country. Given that the overwhelming majority of dimensional stone used in the United States is imported, the tonnage totals serve as an unofficial measurement of demand.
The two parts of imports can tell two different stories – which is the case in this year’s third quarter with granite.
In customs values, “worked” (cut and minimum once-polished) granite imports totaled $296.9 million in this year’s third quarter, or 3.1% better than the same time last year; Brazil led all countries with $135 million – up 3.9% from third-quarter 2010. India’s $49 million showed a 24.3% increase, offset by declines of 5.6% by China ($58 million) and 6.9% by Italy ($32 million).
For the first nine months of 2011, granite imports showed a value of $761.1 million, besting last year’s first three quarters by 6.6%. As far as values, granite’s numbers this year are encouraging.
Volume, however, moves the story in a different direction.
Worked granite imports for 2011’s third quarter weighed in at 375,262 metric tons, representing a 15.8% decline from the same time last year. Most of the dropoff came from Brazil (158,538 metric tons, down 32.1%), with smaller fallbacks with China and Italy for July-September.
Ringing up the year so far, U.S. granite imports come in at slightly above one million metric tons, running behind the first nine months of last year by 10.4%. Brazil is the clear leader in the U.S. market for 2011’s first three quarters with a total of 411,716 metric tons … but that’s 17.4% less than at the same time last year. China’s 279,270 metric tons are 6.6% behind 2010, and Italy’s 63,392 metric tons reveal a 41% drop. India does move ahead of last year with 227,938 metric tons, albeit by 0.8%.
MARBLE
Taking just the tonnage route with marble in this year’s third quarter is a welcome relief, as the 52,974 metric tons of worked material coming into the United States is 11% more than at the same time last year.
