U.S. Stone Imports, December 2011

The song remains the same: Marble and travertine imports keep moving up, but containers of granite get fewer and fewer at U.S. ports-of-entry.

StatWatch is a snapshot of U.S. dimensional-stone imports, offering a summary and exclusive Stone Update analysis of data from the U.S. International Trade Commission. Comparisons are made mainly on an annual level to gauge market trends. Analysis is made on import figures of the latest month available.

All figures give are for December 2011 (change from December 2010 amounts in parentheses). “Worked” stone is material that’s shorn from boulders and blocks, and then cut in standard dimensional measures (such as slabs and tiles) and polished (at least once, one side). “Value” represents the declared customs value of stone.
 
WORKED GRANITE VALUE
Total: $78.8 million (-1.0%)
Sector leader: Brazil @ $32.4 million (-1.9%)

Backfill: Given granite’s up-and-down import history this year, December’s negligible declines in value are a respite from bad news. The bright spot for the month is India; it’s the lone member of granite’s Big Four to top December ’10 totals ($12.7 million, up 1.8%) and also show a small increase from November ‘11.

WORKED GRANITE VOLUME
Total: 101,922 metric tons (-34.8%)
Sector leader: Brazil @ 38,108 metric tons (-9.5%)

Backfill: The story here is China, with its 36,970 metric tons beating December ’10 totals by 44.9% and limiting the overall fall-off. The relatively good news with granite value is offset by some major year-end tumbles compared to December ‘10, including India (14,356 metric tons, down 76.9%) and Italy (6,075 metric tons, down 69.9%).

WORKED MARBLE VALUE
Total: $20.1 million (32.5%)
Sector leader: Italy @ $9.9 million (51.5%)

Backfill: Memories of the old boom days continue in marble’s climb, with nine of the top 10 exporters showing higher values than the previous December. (Portugal, at $285K, suffered the only slide at -10.4%.) China finishes strong at $4.0 million for December ’11 (up 2.4%) and  Spain keeps up the pace at $1.9 million (up 39.4%). Turkey’s $1.2 million beats the previous December by a scant 0.4% – but a gain’s a gain.

WORKED MARBLE VOLUME
Total: 16,941 metric tons (19.9%)
Sector leader: Italy @ 5,179 metric tons (41.8%)

Backfill: The containers of marble keep rolling in to put the real weight behind the stone’s upsurge. China, despite a 3.1% decline from the previous December, follows close behind Italy with 5,145 metric tons – its best showing in the past four months. Spain finishes 2011 with a flourish at 2,072 metric tons, up 43.5% from December ’10; Turkey, meanwhile, takes a 26.3% dip to 1,461 metric tons.

TRAVERTINE VALUE
Total: $19.9 million (12.0%)
Sector leader: Turkey @ $13.4 million (16.3%)

Backfill: Turkey contributes mightily to the recovery of this sector; with an effective two-thirds share of U.S. imports of travertine, it determines the market direction. The news is good for other major players in beating December ’10 totals, including million-dollar months for China (up 16.4%) and Italy (up 44.6%). Peru just misses the seven-figure mark at $979K.

TRAVERTINE VOLUME
Total: 37,481 metric tons (32.5%)
Sector leader: Turkey @ 28,558 metric tons (34.5%)

Backfill: Importers finish the year on a strong note, shipping almost a third more in tonnage than December ’10 (although less than November ’11). Turkey continues to lead the way; Peru shows a strong fourth quarter and ships 2,921 metric tons in December, up 211.1% from the previous year. Only Mexico shows a small drop-off among the leaders, with its 3,833 metric tons representing a 2.9% decline from the previous December.

OTHER CALCAREOUS VALUE
Total: $7.2 million (14.7%)
Sector leader: China @ $1.3 million (61.2%)

Backfill: Three countries tally $1-million-plus in exports to the U.S. market – a rarity in the past few years – with Italy’s $1.2 million and Portugal’s $1.1 million. However, only two other countries manage to break the $500K mark (Spain, $588K, and Mexico, $500K). France, a big player in November ’11 with $931K, contributes only $321K in December.

OTHER CALCAREOUS VOLUME
Total: 7,802 metric tons (-7.2%)
Sector leader: China @ 2,115 metric tons (130.6%)

Backfill: The pack gets a full shuffle this month, as China moves to the top; however, none of the other countries shipping to the United States manages to break the 1,000 metric-ton mark (although Portugal comes close, with 933). The Dominican Republic, with 722 metric tons, moves up to third — mainly due to other countries shipping less at year’s end. France, for example, managed a second in November ’11 with 1,366 metric tons, but only contributes 221 metric tons in December.

SLATE VALUE
Total: $4.4 million (-5.2%)
Sector leader: China @ $2.1 million (9.4%)

Backfill: China finishes the year on an up note, with a $250K increases from November ’11. India shows only a small slip from the previous month (less than $25K), but usual stalwarts Brazil and the United Kingdom take a fall – with the U.K. imports dropping from $160K in November ’11 to $21K a month later. 

Looking for more monthly reports on U.S. stone imports? Check the StatWatch index here.

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