Import Trends 2008

July 30, 2009

SLATE
U.S. slate imports usually boil down to a race between China and India, with the two carving out three-quarters of the total. In 2008, China barely won the duel by $500,000, with the countries sending a combined $94.9 million to the United States.

It’s a sign of the declines in the overall stone import market that all U.S. deliveries of slate from 34 countries in 2008 came to $92.4 million, marking a 21.5-percent decline from the previous year.

India, with $37.8 million, won the slate title in 2008 with less of a decline from 2007 (20 percent) than China with its 2008 value of $34.2 million (down 28.1 percent). Brazil came in at a distant third this year with import value of $8.5 million, but that’s only off 9.5 percent from 2007.

(Editor’s note: Due to U.S. differences in calculating tariffs, there are no overall tonnage figures for slate or the other remaining stone categories.)

OTHER CALCAREOUS
After subtracting marble and travertine, there’s the mix of calcareous stone such as limestone and alabaster. Import value fell in 2008, but with less of a drop than other stone categories.

The U.S. import value of other calcareous stone in 2008 totaled $206.5 million, or a 7.6-percent decrease from the previous year. Italy is a perennial leader in other calcareous, and topped the list again at $36.8 million – although that’s down 9.7 percent from 2007.

Spain’s other calcareous exports to the United States dropped 22 percent from 2007 to $19.5 million. Neighboring Portugal, meanwhile, provided a rare bright spot by beating 2007 import value by 19.7 percent; the $18 million vaulted it from seventh-leading other calcareous exporter to third, just behind Spain.

Lebanon also continued its annual growth – 13.1 percent last year – in this category, with $15.3 million in import value, and France’s $17.1 million represented a 9.7-percent boost. Other countries weren’t as fortunate; after several years of growth, Turkey’s $12 million translated to a 31.7-percent decline from 2007, and Israel suffered a 22-percent annual loss last year with its $17.3 million.

OTHER STONE
Call it the potpourri collection or the category of what’s left; other stone is the dimensional product that doesn’t fit under the other main category definitions. Given its 2008 numbers, though, other stone deserves some respect.

Last year, other stone import value amounted to $282.3 million, registering only a 1.7-percent decline from 2007 – easily the best import performance of any stone classification.

India wrested the top exporting country position in 2008 from the previous year’s leader (Brazil) by earning it, posting $75.5 million in imports for a 7.9-percent gain from 2007.

Not that Brazil didn’t shine as well in 2008 with other stone; its $73.6 million showed a 2.6-percent gain.

The hardest hit came with Italy, where last year’s $26.9 million in other stone came in 26.5-percent under 2007’s total. Third-place China also suffered one of its rare setbacks, falling 10.8 percent from 2007 levels with $33.1 million of other stone in 2008.

Canada, meanwhile, posted one of the smallest gains in any category of imported stone – 0.03 percent – with its $31.8 million last year in other stone. Standing still, though, allowed Canada to move into fourth place, as Italy tumbled past into fifth.

Data for this article, and for accompanying charts, is derived from information reported by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Treasury and the U.S. International Trade Commission. All analysis is made using comparable data. “Cut /slab” data excludes crude/roughly trimmed stone comprised of marble/travertine, granite or other categories where volume measurement is in cubic meters instead of metric tons. Marble/travertine crude/roughly trimmed stone data is not included in value summaries, since the two stones are not delineated in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (2002) (Revision 2).