StatWatch April 2019: Spring Forward
By Emerson Schwartzkopf
Count China out when it comes to U.S. imports of quartz-surfaces, but the category isn’t all that down about it.
The manufactured hard-surface sector lost its major player from 2018, but total quartz-slab imports dropped only 6% in April, with India filling much of the void left by China in the wake of unfair-trade tariffs.
Other hard-surface segments, for the most part, stayed slightly ahead of 2018 shipments, although the omnibus Other Stone category dropped when Brazil’s exports slipped by one-quarter. And the bad news continued for U.S. travertine imports.
All data is from the U.S. International Trade Commission and Stone Update analysis.
Beginning this month, import data is offered in interactive charts; click the tabs at the top to change between April 2019 and April 2018, and click the graph bars for individual country totals.
WORKED GRANITE
Total: 111,459 metric tons (+4.6%)
Sector Leader: Brazil, 50,512 metric tons (-6.1%)
Backfill: India keeps U.S. granite imports ahead of last year with its 23,246 metric tons (+20%). Canada helps out with 8,870 metric tons (+97.3%).
QUARTZ SURFACES
Total: 9,145,860 ft² (-6%)
Sector Leader: India: 3,392,222 ft² (+542.1%)
Backfill: India’s quartz boom, along with Turkey’s (739,889 ft², +236.4%), may be short-lived in the face of Cambria Company LLC’s unfair trade allegations against the two countries. However, April’s shipments also show increases from six Pacific-Rim countries, including Malaysia going from zero for all of 2018 to more than 25,000 ft² in only four months.
There’s also another surprise; while Israel’s exports to the United States fell short of April 2018’s totals, the country is one of the few not in the Pacific Rim to show consistent month-to-month growth in 2019
WORKED MARBLE
Total: 36,544 metric tons (+3.8%)
Sector Leader: Turkey, 11,772 metric tons (+0.9%)
Backfill: With Turkey showing only nominal annual growth and India making an ever-so-small dip (7,624 metric tons, -0.4%), Italy and Brazil shored up April’s total past the same time last year. As far as this year, though, Turkey is the only country among the top six with consistent month-to-month increases in shipments this year.
TRAVERTINE
Total: 15,691 metric tons (-35.3%)
Sector Leader: Turkey, 11,772 metric tons (-34.7%)
Backfill: Turkey’s travertine shipments in April dipped below 12K metric tons for the first time since February 2002; it’s also less than half of the volume of April 2016’s exports to the United States. Mexico managed to lessen its decline for April (2,948 metric tons, -27.7%).
OTHER CALCAREOUS
Total: 11,075 metric tons (+7.6%)
Sector Leader: Turkey, 4,154 metric tons (+112.9%)
OTHER STONE
Total: 134,814 metric tons (-4.5%)
Sector Leader: India, 13,855 metric tons (+11.5%)
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