Stone Imports: First-Half Improvements in 2012

September 6, 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%.