StatWatch: Quartz Doubles Up

February 7, 2013

Quartz-slab imports literally and figuratively double in November 2012, due mainly to a huge infusion of material from Israel.

Israel takes first place again in November 2012 with a 197.4% surge from the previous year to $8.0 million. Spain remains strong at $7.1 million last November (+28.6%), with China a solid third at $1.8 million (+88.8%. Vietnam continues its climb to $404.549 – a 217.1% November-to-November increase.

U.S. Quartz Slab Imports – Value
(U.S. dollars)

	Nov-12	Nov-11	Change
Israel	$8,095,365	$2,722,202	197.4%
Spain	$7,185,547	$5,587,879	28.6%
China	$1,843,572	$976,713	88.8%
Canada	$1,364,998	$977,104	39.7%
Vietnam	$404,549	$127,559	217.1%
India	$391,300	$164,422	138.0%
Italy	$356,315	$995,637	-64.2%
Belgium	$187,974	$383,688	-51.0%
Portugal	$169,589	$133,385	27.1%
Korea	$130,888	$139,366	-6.1%
Czech Republic	$61,084	$63,898	-4.4%
Brazil	$55,227	$0	N/A
Germany	$24,954	$0	N/A
Taiwan	$16,128	$0	N/A
Hong Kong	$13,449	$0	N/A
Turkey	$0	$9,905	-100.0%

Total	$20,300,939	$12,281,758	65.3%

Source: U.S. International Trade Commission, Stone Update analysis

Israel almost breaks the million-square-foot barrier last November, shipping 968,611 ft² for a 334.4% spike from November 2011. Spain shows some of its best activity of 2012 at 768,661 ft² (+46.9%), while China cranks it up 126.4% from the previous November to 287,924 ft². Vietnam turns a triple act, jumping 200.7% to 43,368 ft².

U.S. Quartz Slab Imports – Volume
(square feet)

	Nov-12	Nov-11	Change
Israel	968,611	222,985	334.4%
Spain	768,661	523,341	46.9%
China	287,924	127,197	126.4%
Canada	107,273	99,028	8.3%
Vietnam	43,368	14,424	200.7%
India	41,183	15,758	161.3%
Italy	36,425	76,822	-52.6%
Portugal	25,209	16,996	48.3%
Korea	17,470	20,581	-15.1%
Czech Republic	8,450	8,191	3.2%
Hong Kong	4,844	0	N/A
Germany	4,392	0	N/A
Belgium	3,488	34,100	-89.8%
Brazil	1,765	0	N/A
Taiwan	1,259	0	N/A
Turkey	0	549	-100.0%

Total	2,320,320	1,159,972	100.0%

Source: U.S. International Trade Commission, Stone Update analysis

StatWatch is a snapshot of U.S. dimensional-stone and hard-surfaces imports, offering a summary and exclusive Stone Update analysis of data from the U.S. International Trade Commission. Comparisons are made mainly to gauge market trends. Analysis is made on import figures of the latest month available.

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