StatWatch: Quartz Stays Hot In June

 

Quartz continues to outpace 2011 import levels, although volume grows faster than value.

In value, Spain continues to far outstrip other countries, beating June 2011 levels by 189.8%. Israel remains a strong second , while China continues some healthy growth. Countries showing major declines – Canada and Italy – likely reflect changes in the supply chain rather than consumer demand, as major companies turn to U.S.-based manufacturing.

U.S. Quartz Slab Imports – Value
(U.S. dollars)
Jun-12 Jun-11 Change
Spain $7,886,166 $2,721,630 189.8%
Israel $4,574,137 $2,394,921 91.0%
China $1,484,160 $1,060,585 39.9%
Canada $906,637 $1,850,378 -51.0%
Italy $832,715 $2,213,667 -62.4%
Luxembourg $339,024 $0 N/A
India $238,880 $337,634 -29.2%
Vietnam $186,118 $204,391 -8.9%
Belgium $170,172 $390,775 -56.5%
Portugal $158,590 $40,912 287.6%
Korea $51,553 $59,753 -13.7%
Czech Republic $31,294 $31,719 -1.3%
All Others $26,696 $36,714 -27.3%
Total $16,886,142 $11,343,079 48.9%
Source: U.S. International Trade Commission, Stone Update analysis

The import trend holds true in actual shipments, although the larger increase in volume (89.5%) over value (48.9%) indicates some softening returns as demands increase. Spain remains a clear #1 in the market with huge growth in shipments from June 2011, with Israel also making major gains, and China posts good increases. The rest of the market remains dull, save for Vietnam and Portugal.

U.S. Quartz Slab Imports – Volume
(square feet)
Jun-12 Jun-11 Change
Spain 848,368 236,278 259.1%
Israel 530,230 217,592 143.7%
China 204,815 129,188 58.5%
Canada 75,541 127,348 -40.7%
Italy 46,618 170,263 -72.6%
Luxembourg 42,324 0 N/A
India 28,567 29,558 -3.4%
Vietnam 26,339 20,344 29.5%
Belgium 18,654 24,348 -23.4%
Portugal 18,385 4,618 298.1%
Korea 6,178 7,685 -19.6%
Czech Republic 4,080 4,370 -6.7%
All Others 1,539 5,371 -71.3%
Total 1,851,638 976,964 89.5%
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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