StatWatch: U.S. Stone Imports, June 2011

StatWatch is a snapshot of U.S. dimensional-stone imports, offering a summary and exclusive Stone Business 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 June 2011 (change from June 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: $102.1 million (10.5%)
Sector leader: Brazil @ $47.4 million (15.6%)

Backfill: As far as values declared at customs, granite surges ahead of last year, with India making the biggest advance from June ’10 with $13.8 million (up 16.5%). That barely holds off Italy for third place at $13.0 million  (up 7.4%). China gets the second spot at $21.4 million, but barely 0.4% ahead of the same time last year.

WORKED GRANITE VOLUME
Total: 116,578 metric tons (-32.3%)
Sector leader: Brazil @ 55,922 metric tons (-41.7%)

Backfill: May 2011’s boom turns into June’s bust, as shipments drop sharply from Brazil and China (26,260 metric tons, down 40.9% from last June). India manages to improve from last year with 17,416 metric tons (up 11.9%).

WORKED MARBLE VALUE
Total: $19.1 million (2.9%)
Sector leader: Italy @ $8.2 million (17.1%)

Backfill: Values also remain strong with marble; China boosts its share to $4.2 million, up 12.6% from June 2010. Turkey and Spain round out the million-dollar club ($2.2 million and $2.0 million, respectively); it’s a 7.8% solution, as Turkey drops and Spain rises by the same measure from last year’s levels.

WORKED MARBLE VOLUME
Total: 17,120 metric tons (3.0%)
Sector leader: China @ 5,059 metric tons (-5.9%)

Backfill: The sector makes a small gain, and China keeps its top tonnage mark for the third straight month – even as it sends less marble to U.S. docks than last June. Italy follows closely in second at 4,888 metric tons (up 22.5% from June 2010), and Spain gets stronger at 2,589 metric tons (up 12.8%).