StatWatch: Quartz Continues Torrid Pace

April 11, 2013

Quartz imports continue a rocket ride of growth, with volume gains easily surpassing the product’s dollar value.

Spain takes another first in value, easily outpacing Israel’s slow February at $3.9 million. China continues a strong move this year, with both January and February import totals at $2.4 million. Both India (+206.4%) and Vietnam (+97.8%) show consistent growth in the past year; Korea’s increase (+537.3%) looks impressive, but the country suffered a slump in import values during early 2012.

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

	Feb-13	Feb-12	Change
Spain	$7,007,657	$4,779,704	46.6%
Israel	$3,918,979	$4,336,527	-9.6%
China	$2,432,896	$916,414	165.5%
Canada	$1,647,693	$1,103,750	49.3%
India	$614,416	$200,502	206.4%
Portugal	$273,417	$382,909	140.7%
Italy	$225,995	$333,302	-32.2%
Vietnam	$224,758	$113,610	97.8%
Korea	$120,966	$18,982	537.3%
Czech Republic	$56,760	$0	N/A
Belgium	$35,858	$249,392	-85.6%
Turkey	$19,466	$8,292	134.8%
Brazil	$15,006	$46,463	-67.7%
Germany	$3,180	$33,645	-90.5%
Indonesia	$2,970	$0	N/A
Sweden	$0	$2,400	N/A

Total	$16,600,017	$12,525,892	32.5%

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

Spain’s shipments this February aren’t a record – the country set the monthly bar at 1,042,440 ft² last May – but it does command a 41% share of quartz slabs entering the United States. The 32.1% bump up for Israel, combined with the decline in value, suggests some pricing pressure. China continues to press forward as a third market-maker, with India offering steady growth since a 2012 mid-year shipping swoon.

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

	Feb-13	Feb-12	Change
Spain	775,722	428,694	81.0%
Israel	441,955	334,628	32.1%
China	318,967	98,587	223.5%
Canada	139,339	109,135	27.7%
India	102,612	22,561	354.8%
Portugal	33,702	44,250	-23.8%
Vietnam	24,337	14,327	69.9%
Italy	21,754	33,497	-35.1%
Korea	15,618	3,584	335.8%
Czech Republic	7,922	0	N/A
Belgium	3,897	27,383	-85.8%
Turkey	2,390	915	161.2%
Brazil	657	2,766	-76.3%
Germany	108	4,402	-97.6%
Indonesia	11	0	N/A
Sweden	0	11	-100.0%

Total	1,888,989	1,124,740	67.9%

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

What happened to January’s quartz-import numbers?

A change in release dates of federal trade data allowed StatWatch to “skip forward” a month in reporting. In January, Israel claimed the top spot in value for quartz slabs at $5.4 million and volume with 600,615 ft². January 2013’s quartz-slab import shipments totaled 1,714,937 ft², up 28% from the previous January.

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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