StatWatch: U.S. Stone Imports, January 2013
U.S. granite imports start the year in positive territory; marble, other calcareous post gains. Travertine, however, takes a tumble.
StatWatch is a snapshot of U.S. dimensional-stone imports, offering a summary and exclusive Stone Update analysis of data from the U.S. International Trade Commission. Comparisons are made mainly on an annual level to gauge market trends. Analysis is made on import figures of the latest month available.
All figures give are for January 2013 (change from January 2012 amounts in parentheses). “Worked” stone is material that’s shorn from boulders and blocks, and then cut in standard dimensional measures (such as slabs and tiles) and polished (at least once, one side). “Value” represents the declared customs value of stone.
WORKED GRANITE
VALUE
Total: $90.2 million (+11.6%)
Sector leader: Brazil @ $38.8 million (+13.0%)
VOLUME
Total: 127,067 metric tons (+4.2%)
Sector leader: Brazil @ 47,343 metric tons (-36.0%)
Backfill: The decline in Brazil’s tonnage this year is due to unusually large shipments in January 2012; other major players show healthy growth in volume, including China’s hot-on-the-heels second place (47,343 metric tons, +104.2%) and India (20,341 metric tons, +36.8%). Conversely, Brazil’s value growth in shipping less this January is matched by India’s value downturn ($11.6 million, -12.3%). Italy’s granite values are strong, but its low volume (5,015 metric tons) is turning the Big Four importing countries into the Big Three-and-a-Quarter.
WORKED MARBLE
VALUE
Total: $22.2 million (+24.2%)
Sector leader: Italy @ $10.4 million (+23.8%)
VOLUME
Total: 18,933 metric tons (+20.6%)
Sector leader: China @ 5,618 metric tons (+20.4%)
Backfill: Italy’s slab/tile marble commands premium prices; January’s import values far outstrip China’s second place of $4.4 million, although the Chinese values showed an increase of 28.4% from last year. Turkey remains strong in value at $2.2 million (+49.0%). Italy’s volume growth of only 9.8% with 5,428 metric tons slows the overall import growth, given Turkey’s 3,080 metric tons (+67.1%).
TRAVERTINE
VALUE
Total: $22.6 million (+1.0%)
Sector leader: Turkey @ $15.1 million (-10.1%)
VOLUME
Total: 39,374 metric tons (-16.7%)
Sector leader: Turkey @ 29,843 metric tons (-23.2%)
Backfill: It’s a mirror image – albeit a negative one – of last November, when Turkey pumped up the U.S.-bound exports by more than 20 percent and shipped almost as much travertine here by itself as all countries combined this January. Other countries offer less-than-stellar efforts, with second-place Mexico on the slide (3,814 metric tons, -22.1%) and China dropping 46.8% from January 2012 with 898 metric tons. Bright spots include Italy (1,275 metric tons, +26.7%) and, in its first time among the leaders, Poland (2,560 metric tons, +154.5%).
OTHER CALCAREOUS
VALUE
Total: $9.2 million (+33.7%)
Sector leader: China @ $2.4 million (+114.4%)
VOLUME
Total: 10,668 metric tons (+23.0%)
Sector leader: China @ 2,821 metric tons (+170.0%)
Backfill: In a sector often beset with wild swings in shipping volume and bizarre valuations, the market appears to steady with a constant overall champion – China – and consistent support from other new leaders, as seen in January from Portugal (1,231 metric tons, +135.8%) and the Dominican Republic (871 metric tons, +8.6%). There’s a calming symmetry in China’s doubling of both values and shipments.
