U.S. Stone, Quartz Countertop Demand Up
The Freedonia Group Inc.’s newest report on countertops, released in mid-September, estimates that the demand for natural stone will be 66 million ft² in 2013, with an eight-percent annual growth rate from the estimated 45 million ft² turned out last year.
The study also sees high growth for quartz (noted by Fredonia as engineered stone), with a 49 million ft² prediction in 2013 marking a 9.6-percent annual growth rate from 2008’s 31 million ft².
Fredonia’s study notes that 2008 is a measurement in a “depressed level.” It also notes that the residential market – responsible for 75 percent of overall countertops demand last year – will drive the market in the next four years.
Non-residential countertops (such as commercial and public-sector placement) will contract as construction spending in that sector decreases. The study cites institutional work, such as medical and educational facilities, as a possible growth market.
While both stone and quartz show the highest annual growth in market demand, the study shows laminate surfaces remaining as the big player in countertops. The prediction of 455 million ft² of laminate translates to 59.8 percent of the overall market, while natural stone and quartz capture 8.6 percent and 9.6 percent, respectively.
The study places solid-surface demand in 2013 at 91 million ft², or 11.9 percent of the market.
While the study identifies quartz demand growing at a faster rate annually than natural stone, data from a previous Fredonia study on U.S. countertops may show the manufactured material with a cooler acceptance in the market.
In a 2007 countertops study, Fredonia set 2006 market demand at a virtual dead heat: 35.6 million ft² for natural stone and 35.5 million ft² for engineered stone. In the latest study, natural stone’s 45 million ft² in 2008 shows a 26.4-percent increase in demand during the past two years.
The 31 million ft² in quartz demand last year, meanwhile, indicates a 12.6-percent decrease from 2006.
The full, 361-page report on countertops is available for $4,800, is available from Fredonia online. Sections of the report will be sold on a per-page basis, beginning sometime in November.