First Quarter 2012 U.S. Stone Imports

May 31, 2012

Italy charges a premium for its stone, and it’s getting the higher prices in marble; values increase by almost a quarter from 1Q 2011, but actual shipments (shown in the next chart) only moved up by 4.1% The increase offset the dip in value from China.

U.S. Imports: Worked Marble Volume – First Quarter
(metric tons)
	2012	2011	Change
Italy	12,361	11,870	4.1%
China	10,907	12,012	-9.2%
Spain	5,495	5,222	5.2%
Turkey	4,695	5,448	-13.8%
India	1,362	805	69.2%
Egypt	1,096	598	83.3%
Greece	1,024	617	66.0%
All Others	3,823	2,884	32.6%
Total	40,763	39,456	3.3%
Source: U.S. International Trade Commission

China also lost its lead in worked-marble shipments with a 9.2% drop, while all other major marble exporters to the United States (except Turkey) popped in with gains. That includes Spain and Turkey, which offers a small bit of brightness among the countries’ eurozone economic dilemmas.

TRAVERTINE

The U.S. travertine market moves in whatever direction Turkey takes it. For 1Q 2012, the direction is up.

U.S. Imports: Travertine Value – First Quarter
(U.S. dollars)
	2012	2011	Change
Turkey	$44,353,479	$41,832,038	6.0%
Mexico	$10,320,044	$10,846,842	-4.9%
Italy	$3,971,037	$2,179,986	82.2%
China	$2,187,637	$2,557,599	-14.5%
Peru	$2,093,018	$1,958,406	6.9%
All Others	$1,015,045	$900,126	12.8%
Total	$63,940,260	$60,274,997	6.1%
Source: U.S. International Trade Commission

Turkey still accounts for more than two-thirds of the value of total U.S. travertine imports, and the country’s growth rate from 1Q 2011 almost makes a perfect match with the rise from all imports of the material. China again moves down from last year’s performance, although Italy makes a major step up.

U.S. Imports: Travertine Volume – First Quarter
(metric tons)
	2012	2011	Change
Turkey	100,014	79,650	25.6%
Mexico	12,882	13,139	-2.0%
China	4,186	4,357	-3.9%
Italy	2,475	1,473	68.0%
Peru	2,157	1,937	11.4%
All Others	816	1,227	-33.5%
Total	122,530	101,783	20.4%
Source: U.S. International Trade Commission

It’s also obvious that Turkey’s moving more travertine for less revenue, given the 6% increase in value and 25.6% increase in tonnage going to the United States. The slippage from Mexico and China isn’t enough to derail a 20% growth rate for the first quarter, given the large improvement in shipments by Italy.

OTHER CALCAREOUS

Dimensional stone’s unruly category tames itself slightly at the start of 2012, in that it keeps total highs and lows to less than 10% movement.

U.S. Imports: Other Calcareous Value – First Quarter
(U.S. dollars)
	2012	2011	Change
Italy	$3,660,501	$2,917,700	25.5%
China	$2,812,525	$2,842,184	-1.0%
Portugal	$2,180,975	$2,873,776	-24.1%
Turkey	$1,765,043	$1,568,346	12.5%
France	$1,668,502	$1,884,913	-11.5%
Spain	$1,359,131	$2,089,237	-34.9%
Mexico	$1,255,286	$2,047,424	-38.7%
Israel	$1,158,649	$1,109,201	4.5%
All Others	$4,240,320	$3,736,241	13.5%
Total	$20,100,932	$21,069,022	-4.6%
Source: U.S. International Trade Commission

Because of wild fluctuations in shipments (more on that shortly), other calcareous is a hard category to discern trends. It’s a scorecard market, with statistics offered purely as face value. Luckily, for value, Italy takes a commanding lead in 1Q 2012 to offset lagging runs by Portugal, Spain, France and Mexico.