Mid-Year 2008 Stone Imports: New Order

A drop of more than 14 percent in value of worked granite imports is disappointing, given stone’s past growth, but it’s not a disaster. When it comes to actual tonnage shipped to the United States, though, the numbers get bigger – and a bit stranger.

The 914,388 metric tons of worked granite imported in the first half of 2008 marked a 21.77-percent drop from the same time period last year. China displaced former lead importer Brazil by shipping 297,432 metric tons, up 31.51 percent from last year’s first half. Brazil, meanwhile, went to 230,420 metric tons, a dive of 46.35 percent.

India made a small gain this January-June (3.6 percent) from the same time in 2007 to be third overall in worked-granite imports. However, it’s India’s import data that’s a stellar example of 2008’s odd track.

While the total of the first six months shows India gaining in a slumping stone-import year, the figures for the month of June – when compared to June 2007 – revealed that India’s U.S. worked-granite imports dropped by 21.33 percent. And the 15,798 metric tons shipped actually dropped India that month to fifth among worked-granite importers, displaced by a one-month surge by Taiwan (21,691 metric tons).

What’s truly unsettling about the worked-granite data, however, comes with comparisons with the previous two years to chart the market. It’s possible that the best of 2008 may be far behind us.

In 2006, the first-half total of worked-granite imports came to 1,206,975 metric tons; the year-end tally was 3,825,527 metric tons, so only 31.55 percent of total worked-granite imports arrived in January-June.

Last year, the 1,168,778 metric tons of worked granite coming to the United States didn’t represent a massive drop from 2006’s half-year total. However, 2007’s final total of 2,253,320 metric tons meant that more than half of the worked-granite imports (51.86 percent) arrived before the end of June.

Data for this article is derived from information reported by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Treasury and the U.S. International Trade Commission. All analysis is made using comparable data. “Cut stone/slab” data excludes crude/roughly trimmed stone comprised of marble/travertine, granite or other categories where volume measurement is in cubic meters instead of metric tons. Marble/travertine crude/roughly trimmed stone data is not included in value summaries, since the two stones are not delineated in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (2002) (Revision 2).

Original publication ©2008 Western Business Media Inc. Use licensed to the author.

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