StatWatch: July 2009

The following is taken from import data from the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Homeland Security. Information is given for July 2009 (with comparisons to July 2008 data in parentheses).

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Schwartzkopf

Worked Granite, Value

Total: $73,915,680 (-36.06%)

Sector leader: Brazil, $29,989,406 (-21.58%)

Backfill: While the numbers look rosy for the amount of granite coming into the United States (see next entry), the value remains depressed. Italy took it on the chin, with values dropping by 49.58% from the previous July

Worked Granite, Volume

Total: 118,127 metric tons (-.04%)

Sector leader: Brazil, 60,913 metric tons (+49.51%)

Backfill: Coming within 50 metric tons of meeting last July’s total just about counts as a positive result for 2009. However, all things unequal, Brazil alone provided more than half the tonnage, with significant drops for China and India.

Worked Marble, Value

Total: $7,706,203 (-37.77%)

Sector leader: Italy, $6,434,274 (-53.85%)

Backfill: Marble occasionally offers a positive number in 2009, but the value of imports took a sharp dive in July. Italy fell the hardest, but Spain also continued its decline with a 38.39% drop. Turkey’s total slid by only 7.32%.

Worked Marble, Volume

Total: 16,567 metric tons (-33.92%)

Sector leader: China, 4,774 metric tons (-20.67%)

Backfill: China continues to solidify a position as the the largest marble importer by tonnage; Italy, meanwhile, only shipped one-third the amount of worked marble it sent the previous July. Turkey’s 2,752 metric tons in July represented a 15.39% increase.

Travertine, Value

Total: $22,646,547 (-42.01%)

Sector leader: Turkey, $14,946,338 (-39.94%)

Backfill: Turkey continues to lead the travertine sector. When it’s slow for Turkish import values, it’s slow for everybody – save Peru, where values dropped by just under 5%

Travertine, Volume

Total: 37,514 metric tons (-38.81%)

Sector leader: Turkey, 28,799 metric tons (-35.64%)

 Backfill: If it’s travertine in the United States, odds are two-out-of-three that it’s from Turkey. That dominance continues, even as July import tonnage from the country dropped by a third from July 2008.

Slate, Value

Total: $6,116,072 (-34.03%)

Sector leader: India, $2,651,557 (-20.48%)

Backfill: India wins the arm-wrestling contest with China in July over who’s #1 in U.S. slate imports. However, that due to India only losing half of the nearly 42% drop of China.

Posted from Marmomacc 2009 in Verona, Italy.

Emerson Schwartzkopf