StatWatch September 2019: What Quartz Glut?

By Emerson Schwartzkopf

Apparently, a funny thing happened to the massive oversupply of imported quartz slabs.

Customers bought and installed it.

Despite grumblings late last year and over the summer of 2019 about China flooding the market to evade high unfair-trade tariffs, quartz surfaces remain a strong part of U.S. hard-surface imports. Even after the early summer squeeze of millions of square feet of Chinese quartz through a keyhole-sized exemption in tariffs, shipments remain strong from a large stable of other countries.

Other hard surfaces didn’t fare as well in Septmber, with granite going into a second month of decline and other natural stone feeling the absence of big shipments from China. And travertine imports remain in reverse gear.

All data is from the U.S. International Trade Commission, along with Stone Update analysis.(Comparisions with September 2018 data is shown in parentheses.)

A side note: Hard-surface import data and news easily outpaces anything else at stoneupdate.com to capture your interest. We’re going to offer something new in 2020 that you’ll like as readers (and advertisers). Get on the early list to know more by emailing me at emerson@stoneupdate.com.

 

QUARTZ SURFACES

Total: 14,209,618 ft² (-1.8%)

Sector Leader: India, 4,761,949 ft² (+319.6%)

Backfill: China shippped 8.9 million ft² less this September than a year earlier — but overall imports are almost on par with the same time in 2018. Supply is keeping on pace, so it doesn’t appear that U.S. warehouses are stuffed with surplus quartz slabs; there’s still high market demand.

And, for those looking for transshipping locations: Let’s hope it’s not some kind of new papal bull with the declaration of 6,243 ft² from Vatican City.

(square feet)
	19-Sep	18-Sep	Change
TOTAL	14,209,618	14,472,602	-1.8%
India	4,761,949	1,134,956	319.6%
Spain	2,768,357	1,610,753	71.9%
Vietnam	1,300,279	202,254	542.9%
Turkey	1,157,808	292,304	296.1%
Israel	826,183	820,704	0.7%
Canada	723,313	616,771	17.3%
Taiwan	592,972	42,840	1284.1%
Italy	563,436	147,788	281.2%
Malaysia	363,798	0	N/A
South Korea	283,295	52,991	434.6%
Brazil	241,962	92,699	161.0%
Germany	166,399	67,253	147.4%
Czech Republic	160,339	105,615	51.8%
Portugal	156,701	180,198	-13.0%
Belgium	53,873	2,648	1934.6%
China	25,898	9,000,310	-99.7%
Hong Kong	15,414	37,222	N/A
United Arab Emirates	13,272	0	N/A
Mexico	9,526	0	N/A
Estonia	7,061	0	N/A
Vatican City	6,243	0	N/A
Oman	5,210	0	N/A
Indonesia	3,229	0	N/A
Philippines	1,528	0	N/A
Romania	775	0	N/A
Japan	517	0	N/A
Algeria	248	0	N/A
United Kingdom	32	0	N/A
Thailand	0	60,665	N/A
France	0	4,628	N/A
Source: U.S. International Trade Commission, Stone Update analysis

 

WORKED GRANITE

Total: 113,758 metric tons (-12.1%)

Sector Leader: Brazil, 60,750 metric tons (-8.3%)

Backfill: Worked (sawn, one-side polished) granite looks to be backsliding after a strong first-half 2019. All but one of the top exporters to the United States show declines in shipments, and the one gainer — Spain — is barely in the black.

(metric tons)         19-Sep 18-Sep Change TOTAL 113,758 129,454 -12.1%         Top Countries       Brazil 60,750 66,279 -8.3% China 21,665 26,058 -16.9% India 21,131 24,848 -15.0% Spain 5,696 5,592 1.9% Canada 1,788 2,950 -39.4% Italy 1,722 2,318 -25.7% Source: U.S. International Trade Commission, Stone Update analysis

 

WORKED MARBLE

Total: 41,814 metric tons (-2.9%)

Sector Leader: Turkey, 18,652 metric tons (+10.1%)

Backfill: Minimal movement overall. The big hit comes from China with another month of significant reduction.

(metric tons)         19-Sep 18-Sep Change TOTAL 41,814 43,073 -2.9%         Top Countries       Turkey 18,652 16,936 10.1% India 7,182 6,969 3.1% Italy 5,861 6,116 -4.2% Brazil 4,592 2,886 59.1% China 3,269 7,199 -54.6% Source: U.S. International Trade Commission, Stone Update analysis

 

TRAVERTINE

Total: 18,400 metric tons (-20.5%)

Sector Leader: Turkey, 14,172 metric tons (-19.2%)

Backfill: Travetine’s U.S. import boom lasted exactly one month. The splurge in Chinese travertine in August (9,585 metric tons) plummeted in September.

(metric tons)         19-Sep 18-Sep Change TOTAL 18,400 23,140 -20.5%         Top Countries       Turkey 14,172 17,545 -19.2% Mexico 2,841 3,447 -17.6% Italy 476 672 -29.2% China 283 823 -65.6% Peru 267 228 17.1% Dominican Republic 117 41 185.4% Source: U.S. International Trade Commission, Stone Update analysis

 

OTHER CALCAREOUS

Total: 9,605 metric tons (-32.7%)

Sector Leader: Canada, 1,373 metric tons (-57.3%)

(metric tons)         19-Sep 18-Sep Change TOTAL 9,605 14,266 -32.7%         Top Countries       Canada 1,373 3,212 -57.3% China 1,356 2,595 -47.7% Portugal 1,283 981 30.8% Italy 1,005 1,074 -6.4% Turkey 935 2,797 -66.6% India 583 530 10.0% Mexico 473 273 73.3% France 388 536 -27.6% Dominican Republic 340 388 -12.4% Spain 330 319 3.4% Morocco 323 258 25.2% Source: U.S. International Trade Commission, Stone Update analysis

 

OTHER STONE

Total: 39,034 metric tons (–5.2%)

Sector Leader: Brazil, 10,767 metric tons (-44.1%)

(metric tons)         19-Sep 18-Sep Change TOTAL 39,034 41,181 -5.2%         Top Countries       Brazil 10,767 19,272 -44.1% Mexico 9,885 457 2063.0% India 8,463 12,834 -34.1% China 5,531 4,414 25.3% Canada 1,572 1,363 15.3% Italy 1,412 1,396 1.1% Source: U.S. International Trade Commission, Stone Update analysis

 

 

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