Stone Imports: First-Half Improvements in 2012

 

The story of granite shipments, meanwhile, is shakier, with a dip of 4.6% from first-half 2011.

Worked Granite Volume – First Half
(metric tons)
2012 2011 Change
Brazil 303,360 253,178 19.8%
China 146,978 177,031 -17.0%
India 133,740 163,180 -18.0%
Italy 32,935 40,339 -18.4%
Canada 14,061 33,435 -57.9%
Spain 10,980 11,913 -7.8%
Taiwan 7,963 7,756 2.7%
All Others 13,555 9,047 49.8%
Total 663,572 695,879 -4.6%
Source: U.S. International Trade Commission, Stone Update analysis

A large part of the decline comes from Canada’s whopper January 2011, which came in some 18,000 metric tons above the country’s usual shipment and distorted early data from last year. However, there’s no getting around the decline from most exporting countries, particularly in April-June. Brazil manages to maintain continued growth among the larger exporters, and Taiwan showing consistent strength among all the second-tier shippers.

The large boost in the roundup of “All Others” in first-half 2012 comes solely from Argentina; the country rarely manages to top 100 metric tons monthly, but records a huge 4,061 metric tons in May. (In June, the country’s shipment sank back to 113 metric tons.

MARBLE

Many marble-exporting countries may number among the top areas in political or economic turmoil in 2012, but trade figures offer a plus, including the 20.7% increase in value for overall U.S.-bound worked marble.

Worked Marble Value – First Half          
(U.S. dollars)
2012 2011 Change
Italy $54,397,086 $41,399,922 31.4%
China $19,409,385 $19,891,707 -2.4%
Spain $11,565,813 $10,186,896 13.5%
Turkey $9,092,888 $9,850,820 -7.7%
Greece $3,553,457 $2,278,996 55.9%
India $2,705,204 $1,449,103 86.7%
Brazil $1,754,091 $908,294 93.1%
Israel $1,433,816 $1,068,077 34.2%
All Others $7,834,789 $5,749,410 36.3%
Total $111,746,529 $92,783,225 20.4%
Source: U.S. International Trade Commission, Stone Update analysis

Italy remains the clear value leader, getting much more for its marble. Other large improvements came in the blanket “All Others” category, including a doubling in first-half values from Portugal and Mexico, and a boost into the million-dollar level by Pakistan.

China’s value total indicates a small slip in marble exports … but it’s also a place where value and volume tell two different stories, especially as overall worked-marble shipments to the United States rose by 13.7% in 2012’s first half.

Worked Marble Volume – First Half
(metric tons)
2012 2011 Change
Italy 29,686 24,574 20.8%
China 27,011 25,958 4.1%
Spain 12,151 11,498 5.7%
Turkey 10,811 10,771 0.4%
India 2,868 1,861 54.1%
Greece 2,045 1,376 48.6%
Egypt 1,970 1,805 9.1%
Brazil 1,591 853 86.5%
Israel 1,452 850 70.8%
All Others 5,988 4,509 32.8%
Total 95,573 84,055 13.7%
Source: U.S. International Trade Commission, Stone Update analysis

Italy’s large gain this year (20.8%) pushes the country back to #1 in volume, but China also shows a decent gain of slightly more than 4%. All the leading exporters manage to outpace 2011 this year, and Turkey’s lackluster 0.4% growth results from a weak first quarter; its second-quarter shipments top April-June last year by almost 15%.