Mid-Year 2011 U.S. Stone Imports
To put this in a better perspective of changes from mid-2010, consider the Value Per Ton of worked granite shipments. Divide the country’s collective value by actual volume shipped, and the effect is clear between the first six months of each year:
2010 2011 Change
Brazil $662.52 $812.29 22.7%
China $513.52 $564.34 9.9%
India $346.76 $422.05 21.7%
Italy $737.92 $1,407.15 90.7%
VPT isn’t an indicator of the final offering price for worked granite at any level of the distribution chain (and Italy’s mid-2010 figure is distorted by the one-time increase in shipments that May). Given this, however, don’t expect material costs to come down anytime soon.
None of the major countries supplying worked granite to the United States shows any sustained trend in shipments during the first six months of this year; China comes the closest with a series of sub-par months in volume. And anyone cringing at the overall drop in worked granite shipments should offer thanks to Indian exporters in May, when the 97,469 metric tons sent to the United States represented a one-time 80,000 metric-ton increase from any other month this year.
MARBLE
The action in mid-2011 U.S. worked marble imports, compared to the same time last year, appears somewhere between dull and moribund. However, it’s also a rarity this year; both values and volume are up if every so slight, from 2010.
At the end of this June, the customs value of worked marble entering the United States stood at $92.7 million, up 1.5 percent from the same six months last year. The 84,055 metric tons moved the dial even less – 0.6 percent – but it’s still a gain.
The good news in this sector comes come mainly from Italy. As with any other type of dimensional stone, the goods from Italy come at a premium when compared to other exporting countries; when Italy boosts exports, values get a big boost.
This year, Italy began moving more worked marble than in the past few years, challenging China’s recent dominance as the volume leader. At mid-year, China still led with 25,958 metric tons, although that’s 11.1-percent less in volume than mid 2010. Italy, meanwhile, shipped 24,574 metric tons, ramping up its mid-year totals by 25.8 percent from June 2010.
Spain also gave worked marble some momentum; it’s 11,498 metric tons for January-June represented a 9.3-percent increase from last year. Turkey, meanwhile, slipped a bit (-6.7 percent) from 2010 with its 10,771 metric tons through June.
