U.S. Stone Imports, November 2011

Granite imports steady to November 2010 levels, while marble, travertine and slate show gains.

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 November 2011 (change from November 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: $88.2 million (8.3%)
Sector leader: Brazil @ $38.3 million (2.3%)

Backfill: Customs values continue to look good for granite, although much of the growth from November ’10 comes from China ($19.0 million, up 18.7%) and India ($12.6 million, up 23.9%). One big surprise: Italy, with its premium-priced granites, slips 2.3% to $11.4 million.

WORKED GRANITE VOLUME
Total: 109,257 metric tons (-0.4%)
Sector leader: Brazil @ 55,717 metric tons (-4.2%)

Backfill: It’s a nominal overall loss, with China (24,030 metric tons, up (8.1%) and India (15.147 metric tons, up 17.7%) shoring up Brazil’s dip. Italy, meanwhile, drops 31.3% from November ’10 with 6,911 metric tons; the country hasn’t broken the 10K monthly mark yet in 2011.

WORKED MARBLE VALUE
Total: $20.0 million (26.2%)
Sector leader: Italy @ $9.7 million (15.4%)

Backfill: While the top four shippers to U.S. ports-of-entry – Italy, China, Spain and Turkey – show double-digit value growth from November ’10, Spain continues its resurgence with $2.4 million, up 65.8%. Turkey and China both show 10% gains from the previous November.

WORKED MARBLE VOLUME
Total: 16,591 metric tons (28.0%)
Sector leader: Italy @ 5,334 metric tons (20.7%)

Backfill: Yet another good month of growth from most of the big exporters; China’s 4,530 metric tons is a 33.1% boost from November ’10, while Spain continues to amaze with a 51.6% gain at 2,473 metric tons. Only Turkey takes a tumble, down 7.1% to 1,726 metric tons.

TRAVERTINE VALUE
Total: $22.1 million (16.4%)
Sector leader: Turkey @ $15.3 million (26.4%)

Backfill: Turkey continues to outstrip 2010 totals, but the drag here is China; the $540,123 in November ’11 is 27% less than the previous year. Mexico offers a 9.1% gain at $3.9 million, while Italy’s $1.2 million is within a few thousand dollars of November ’10 totals.

TRAVERTINE VOLUME
Total: 44,844 metric tons (38.9%)
Sector leader: Turkey @ 31,808 metric tons (41.2%)

Backfill: November ’11 becomes a boom time for the top three exporters to the United States; besides Turkey, Mexico scores a 57.1% increase from the previous year at 7,241 metric tons, while Peru’s 2,878 metric tons tops November ’10 by 244.3%. China, meanwhile, drops 50.5% to 1,468 metric tons, and Italy falls 11.3% to 720 metric tons.

OTHER CALCAREOUS VALUE
Total: $8.0 million (9.1%)
Sector leader: China @ $1.4 million (73.4%)

Backfill: Yet more volatility plagues this category; France increases 41.4% from November ’10 with $931,947 and Portugal moves up 16.1% with $831,795. Italy, meanwhile, drops 24.3% to $1.2 million, and Spain plummets 31.5% with $516,122. Mexico’s $536,167 shows a 5.9% decline.

OTHER CALCAREOUS VOLUME
Total: 10,230 metric tons (-4.0%)
Sector leader: United Kingdom @ 1,591 metric tons (2,691.2%)

Backfill: The obvious joker in the deck for November ’11 is the United Kingdom; from January-October last year, the country shipped only 35 metric tons. The British stone makes up from losses from some major exporters, including France (1,366 metric tons, down 34.7%) and Portugal (840 metric tons, down 20.4%). China, meanwhile, improves 60.2% with 1,530 metric tons.

SLATE VALUE
Total: $5.0 million (2.2%)
Sector leader: China @ $1.8 million (-11.0%)

Backfill: Sector leader China and second-place India ($1.2 million, down 37.9%) post losses from November ’10, along with the United Kingdom ($160,072, down 42.2%). Canada may offer an anomaly (up (2,097.3%) with its $934,994, but it’s a welcome one; Brazil also takes a great leap up at $512,084, up 84.8%.

---

Get all the latest in the industry with The EDGE, the e-newsletter from Stone Update. Free subscriptions are available here.

U.S. Stone Imports, August 2011

Marble, travertine and other calcareous stone remain strong through the summer. Granite, however, is lagging.

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 August 2011 (change from August 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: $96.1 million (-3.7%)
Sector leader: Brazil @ $40.7 million (-7.0%)

Backfill: The heady growth of early summer in granite imports is fizzling out; besides Brazil’s slowdown in customs values, China’s $19.8 million is a 7.8% decline from August 2010. India manages to step up by 9.9% to $16.3 million, while Italy’s loss is marginal (-0.9%) at  $11.9 million.

WORKED GRANITE VOLUME
Total: 115,729 metric tons (-36.0%)
Sector leader: Brazil @ 47,627 metric tons (-51.7%)

Backfill: Tonnage totals fall for most countries during a month that often shows large gains in a year. China’s 28,437 metric tons is 35.8% less than the previous August; Italy shows a 20.9% drop with 8,094 metric tons. Only India gains among granite’s Big Four, with 21,289 metric tons representing a 13.8% rise..

WORKED MARBLE VALUE
Total: $23.8 million (18.3%)
Sector leader: Italy @ $11.3 million (26.4%)

Backfill: It’s a happy time for marble with double-digit growth in customs values, fueled mainly by Italy and an on-the-rebound Turkey with $2.5 million, up 80.7% from August 2010. China ($4.5 million, up 7.2%) and Spain ($2.3 million, up 10.0%) also pitch in to boost the market.

WORKED MARBLE VOLUME
Total: 20,408 metric tons (17.3%)
Sector leader: China @ 6,558 metric tons (20.3%)

Backfill: The double figures aren’t dipping in marble tonnage, either. China moves back into first place, but Italy trails closely with 6,013 metric tons, up 21.1% from the previous August. Turkey makes a strong recovery at 2,611 metric tons (up 40.4%); Spain gains some ground at 2,484 metric tons (up 2.8%).

TRAVERTINE VALUE
Total: $26.0 million (16.5%)
Sector leader: Turkey @ $17.1 million (18.9%)

Backfill: Everybody pitches in to improve from August 2010, from Turkey to Mexico ($4.6 million. up 12.5%) to Italy ($1.4 million, up 22.6%) to China ($1.3 million, up 10.2%). While Peru didn’t make the million-dollar club, the $882K in value beats the previous August by 14.3%.

TRAVERTINE VOLUME
Total: 52,082 metric tons (38.2%)
Sector leader: Turkey @ 38,382 metric tons (36.9%)

Backfill: Close your eyes and it’s 2005 again, with a growth curve headed for Mars, with Italy showing a 54.8% gain from August 2010 at 1,286 metric tons and Peru scoring a 18.3% gain at 885 metric tons. Mexico, however, takes a 8.3% step down at 5,240 metric tons. And, like Canada last month, China gets a mysterious inflation of shipments – from 1,679 metric tons this July to 5,706 metric tons a month later.

OTHER CALCAREOUS VALUE
Total: $8.6 million (1.9%)
Sector leader: China @ $1.3 million (38.6%)

Backfill: It’s another round of musical chairs for this sector, with China taking the lead again with Italy a close second at $1.2 million (down 4.0% from August 2010). All the other countries dip below the seven-figure mark; last month’s front-runner, Portugal slips to $991K (down 1.6% from the previous August). Meanwhile, it’s double-digit annual growth for France ($891K, 14.2%) and Spain ($855K, up 21.6%).

OTHER CALCAREOUS VOLUME
Total: 8,433 metric tons (10.0%)
Sector leader: China @ 1,457 metric tons (60.3%)

Backfill: The rollercoaster brings Canada to the fore with 1,009 metric tons, up 149.1% from August 2010, while Portugal drops to 802 metric tons (down 16.7%). Pakistan, with 1,065 metric tons shipped this July, sends just 45 metric tons in the next month; and Mexico, with two 9,000+ metric-ton months earlier this year, accounts for only 485 metric tons in August.

SLATE VALUE
Total: $5.3 million (-11.7%)
Sector leader: China @ $2.5 million (-3.1%)

Backfill: Slate’s up-and-down year hits the down button, with India’s $1.9 million adding up to a 20.4% decline from the previous August. The United Kingdom also hits the skids this year, going from a high of $352K in March to only $26K this August. Brazil provides welcome contrary relief with a 5.9% gain from August 2010 with its $560K.

OTHER STONE VALUE
Total: $16.8 million (-26.1%)
Sector leader: India @ $5.1 million (-26.5%)

Backfill: Beating August 2010 comes easily for China ($2.9 million, up 49.2%) and Italy ($1.8 million, up 37.8%), but they can’t offset losses from sector leader India and Brazil ($3.3 million, down 58.2%). Canada’s positive position from this July turns round in the following month, with its $1.4 million falling 18.7% behind the previous August.

OTHER STONE VOLUME
Total: 19,071 metric tons (-35.0%)
Sector leader: India @ 6,096 metric tons (-28.6%)

Backfill: China offers the only shard of good news in August, with its 3,680 metric tons beating the previous year by 21.9%. Otherwise, the performances range from dismal (Canada, 1,946 metric tons, down 11.4%) to painful (Brazil, 3,774 metric tons, down 64.9%).

---

Get all the latest in the industry with The EDGE, the e-newsletter from Stone Update. Free subscriptions are available here.

We’re moving — come on along!

After three years, it’s time to say goodbye to this blog. However, don’t fret — it’s just moving to a new place, and taking all the furnit …uh, posts along with it.

I’ve been tardy in getting this finally done, but I’m running my own show at stoneupdate.com. It’s a completely new website, independent from my former work at Stone Business and Architectural Stone & Landscape Design magazines.

You’ll still get the same up-to-the-minute coverage you’ve received for years. (That includes the new Marmomacc/StonExpo deal, signed today in Italy.) There isn’t much in gee-whiz supergraphics or online games like Fingerbit Fanatic; it’s a simple design to give you the information you want and need.

And, you’ll still see this blog — something,that, with the Facebook and Twitter sites for Stone Business, I’ve done on my own time all along, BTW — but with a new name. WordPress assures me that you’ll see it soon at stoneupdate.wordpress.com.

The U.S. Postal Service has the Internet beat in one way; when you change your snail-mail address, you fill out one card. Online, it’s a host of functions (along with the usual people offering concierge services in exchange for a fee and all your user name/passwords).

So, here’s a quick moving guide:

Website: www.stoneupdate.com

Email: emerson@stoneupdate.com

Twitter: @stoneupdate (If you subscribed through @stonebizmag, you’re already getting the new timeline.)

Facebook: Link is here. (This one is really traumatic, going from more than 1,900 Likes to 0, because Facebook won’t allow you to change the name of a fan page. Please do me a large favor and click the “Like” button on this page.)

New place, independent ownership, same great service. Come on along!