StatWatch: U.S. Stone Imports, August 2013

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. (Results are being reported up to three weeks later than usual, due to the federal government shutdown last month.)

All figures give are for August 2013 (change from August 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: $132,579,485 (+22.7%)
Sector leader: Brazil @ $67,827,676 (+34.6%)

VOLUME
Total: 159,656 metric tons (-0.2%)
Sector leader: Brazil @ 79,899 metric tons (+33.1%)

Backfill: Using the old British expression, August’s data really puts paid to the idea that granite from China is always the cheapest: While the $27.1 million in customs value shows a year-to-year gain of 30.6%, the country ships 36,711 metric tons, which is 42.8% less than August 2012. India helps pick up the slack (26,462 metric tons, +39.7%), along with Italy (8,359 metric tons, +8.6%). Canada slips sharply from July’s 11,390 metric tons to 1,877 metric tons in August.

WORKED MARBLE

VALUE
Total: $33,574,884 (+17.4%)
Sector leader: Italy @ $18,472,905 (+22.7%)

VOLUME
Total: 24,660 metric tons (+14.7%)
Sector leader: Italy @ 8,944 metric tons (+10.7%)

Backfill: Growth remains steady, as Italy continues to outpace China (5,408 metric tons, +4.4%). Turkey remains a pleasant surprise, as its 4,002 metric tons in August marks a 64.3% year-to-year gain. Spain drops a bit (2,543 metric tons, -3.3%) as the summer months wind down.

TRAVERTINE

VALUE
Total: $26,223,356 (+5.7%)
Sector leader: Turkey @ $16,454,084 (-0.2%)

VOLUME
Total: 47,729 metric tons (-16.1%)
Sector leader: Turkey @ 36,196 metric tons (-23.5%)

Backfill: In August, Turkey barely keeps pace with this July’s shipments and far below last year, although Mexico (6,339 metric tons, +42.7%) covers some of the loss. And the mystery of Italian travertine continues, with August’s 1,547 metric tons back in the usual total after the huge 10,045 shipment in July.

OTHER CALCAREOUS

VALUE
Total: $10,470,625 metric tons (-12.7%)
Sector leader: China @ $1,926,824 (-20.3%)

VOLUME
Total: 10,368 metric tons (-36.9%)
Sector leader: China @ 2,015 metric tons (-68.8%)

Backfill: In this volatile sector, August imports aren’t as slow as the numbers might indicate. China and Canada (502 metric tons, -72.8%) combined in August 2012 to ship approximately 5,500 metric tons more than average, skewing the year-to-year comparison. Stalwarts such as Spain (1,343 metric tons, +9.2%) and Portugal (1.215 metric tons, +5.2%) keep steady and perform nicely.