Mid-Year 2006 Stone Imports: Market’s Up

The difference between raw imports vs. worked imports in marble is much greater than with granite; only 47.8 percent of marble entering the United States in the first half of 2006 is rated as worked slabs and tiles. However, the finished side of the marble import market is still dominated by Italy at $56.9 million, followed by Spain ($21.3 million), China ($13.9 million), Turkey ($7.6 million), Greece ($5.2 million) and Mexico ($3.5 million).

The 44,055 metric tons of worked marble from Italy showed a healthy 20.1-percent gain from the first six months of 2005. Spain topped that growth rate with its 25,455 metric tons providing a 41.9-percent increase – but China made the biggest gain, with its 21,446 metric tons increasing its imports by 55.2 percent.

China also scored well in value per average ton for worked marble, with an average of $650.35. That’s far below Italy’s $1,293.80 and Spain’s $837.26; whether price increases coming from currency changes will change China’s position as a value leader remains to be seen.

TRAVERTINE

It’s almost too easy to wrap up the U.S. travertine-import market in one word: Turkey.

Since the United States separates travertine from marble in its import data – something that’s not done around the world – it’s easier to track Turkey’s impact on the market. As far as U.S. shipments, Turkey seems to be moving closer to cornering the market.

The $162.5 million valuation of Turkish travertine imports in the first six months of this year represented a 19.3 increase from the same time last year. Mexico placed a distant second at $50.4 million, despite an increase of 30.5 percent from 1H 2005. Italy’s $22.2 million showed a 10.4-percent decrease, while Peru stayed in a solid fourth with $10.1 million, a 29.4-percent increase from first-half 2005.

Turkey’s dominance continued in the actual amount of stone hitting U.S. ports, with its 338,033 metric tons in the first six months of this year outpacing the same period in 2005 by 17.3 percent. Mexico’s 59.2 metric tons accounted for a 26.6 percent increase; Peru jumped its travertine imports by 60.9 percent with 15.992 tons, while Italy’s 24,313 metric tons showed a 13.3-percent decrease.

And then there’s China, where U.S. import data for the first half of 2006 showed 16,801 metric tons of travertine coming into the country. That’s a 750.3-percent increase from the same time last year, meaning that either Chinese exporters decided on a major battle with Turkey in the U.S. market, or there’s a statistical anomaly somewhere.

Accepting the Chinese figures on travertine imports would change the lineup in average price per metric ton, with China’s $173.47 severely undercutting Turkey’s $480.99. Italy took top honors for first-half 2006 with an average $916.31 per metric ton, followed by Mexico’s $850.02. Peru, meanwhile, placed itself in the middle of the value scale with a per-ton average of $626.55.