U.S. Quartz Imports: Switch Again

 

The top spot changed again for U.S. imports of quartz slabs in October 2012, as Spain moves back into the lead for shipment volume as well as value.

Spain snaps out of a four-month decline on value, posting $7.2 million for last October – up more than $2 million from the previous month, and 35% better than October 2011. Israel remains strong at $5 million (+27.7% from October ’11), but the big mover is China – going from $1.3 million last September to $2.7 million in October, and jumping $2.7 million from October 2011.

U.S. Quartz Slab Imports – Value
(U.S. dollars)
Oct-12 Oct-11 Change
Spain $7,222,063 $5,350,889 35.0%
Israel $5,015,671 $3,928,515 27.7%
China $2,732,465 $1,239,144 120.5%
Canada $1,526,772 $1,121,428 36.1%
Italy $539,276 $1,216,049 -55.7%
Portugal $376,948 $417,134 -9.6%
India $346,467 $180,662 91.8%
Vietnam $331,370 $154,335 114.7%
Belgium $279,414 $65,453 326.9%
Korea $104,377 $19,302 440.8%
Taiwan $59,465 $16,441 261.7%
Czech Republic $33,633 $32,119 4.7%
Brazil $24,230 $12,728 90.4%
Turkey $19,487 $0 N/A
Reunion $0 $48,909 N/A
Hong Kong $0 $14,061 N/A
Indonesia $0 $2,310 N/A
Total $18,611,638 $13,819,479 34.7%
Source: U.S. International Trade Commission, Stone Update analysis

 

The four-month Spanish slide also stops in volume, with the 732,064 ft² coming into U.S. ports-of-entry last October showing the best totals since May, and 34.4% ahead of October 2011. It’s also dynamic for Israel, with the 577,246 ft² in October shipments besting the previous year by 76.3%. China makes the biggest headway, increasing year-to-year quartz-slab imports by 186.7% with 348,546 ft² last October.

 

U.S. Quartz Slab Imports – Volume
(square feet)
Oct-12 Oct-11 Change
Spain 732,064 544,524 34.4%
Israel 577,246 327,438 76.3%
China 348,546 121,578 186.7%
Canada 116,691 115,959 0.6%
Italy 50,719 109,114 -53.5%
India 45,187 18,783 140.6%
Portugal 41,915 26,447 58.5%
Vietnam 38,998 16,706 133.4%
Belgium 29,838 5,909 404.9%
Korea 16,264 2,573 532.2%
Czech Republic 4,176 4,392 -4.9%
Taiwan 3,853 1,690 128.0%
Brazil 2,648 635 316.9%
Turkey 2,390 0 N/A
Hong Kong 0 7,610 N/A
Reunion 0 3,929 N/A
Indonesia 0 97 N/A
Total 2,010,535 1,307,383 53.8%
Source: U.S. International Trade Commission, Stone Update analysis

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

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