U.S. Stone Imports 2004: Factor of Two

And the actual average value of cut/slab granite imports last year? Try $592.43, which means cut/slab granite, on average, came into the country at a value that’s 32.1 percent less than nine years ago.

In simpler terms, a slab of granite, by value, is almost one-third cheaper today than it was in 1996. In three very simple words: Stone costs less.
 
GRANITE GROWTH

In 2004, granite continued as the stone variety that’s driving the market forward. Dimensional granite arriving in the United States – rough, cut and finished – totaled $1.03 billion in value, representing a 41-percent increase from 2003.

The granite import market also remained the basic territory of the Big Four – Brazil, China, India and Italy. Of that $1.03 billion in total value, 84.5 percent involved granite from those countries.

With granite imports to the United States, it’s nearly all cut/slab  – “worked” stone involves more than 92 percent of the foreign granite for 2004 – and, until a few years ago, Italy led the category in volume and value. In 2003, however, Brazil rolled more cut/slab granite into this country … and it may become the economic leader this year.

In 2004, Brazil’s shipments of cut/slab granite totaled 569,177 metric tons, representing a staggering 67-percent increase from the previous year . And, that’s with reports from Brazilian ports last year lamenting the lack of shipping space for stone deliveries to the United States.

Brazil effectively provided one-third (33 percent) of the cut/slab granite imported into the United States last year. India provided 22.3 percent, while Italy shipped in 18.8 percent. China accounted for 14.2 percent; all of granite’s Big Four sent more granite to this country last year than they did in 2003.

In terms of value, Italy traditionally leads all countries in cut/slab granite; the $286.6 million sent to U.S. docks last year once again topped the list, with an average of $884.20 per metric ton. That’s significantly higher than Brazil’s $474.70 per-metric-ton average – but the country’s large volume of U.S. shipments adds up to a total of $270.1 million, making Brazil a good candidate (if growth trends continue) for taking the monetary lead in cut/slab granite in 2005.

India maintained its position in 2004 of providing the most cut/slab granite for the money, with an average of $432.82 per metric ton. China’s metric-ton average for last year came in at $589.01
 
MARBLE STEADY

Italy continues to master one segment of U.S. dimensional-stone market; marble should remain territorio italiano for the foreseeable future. The $156.1 million of Italian marble imported into the country last year represented 41.8 percent of the stone’s import value, with Spain coming in second at $49.1 million, or 13.1 percent of the value total. China ranked third with $40.6 million (10.8 percent), and Turkey took fourth with $35 million (9.3 percent).

Overall, marble’s import value continued to grow, although not at the fantastic pace of granite. The $373.2 million valuation on U.S. dimensional marble imports represented a 22-percent increase from 2003.