StatWatch: May 2010

Travertine Volume
Total: 38,384 metric tons (-3.0%)
Sector leader: Turkey @ 32,786 metric tons (13.8%)
Backfill: Turkey ramped up shipments by 12.3% from May 2009, with Italy and Peru also showing increases in U.S.-bound travertine. A host of other countries fell behind last year’s pace, accounting for the overall shortfall.  

Other Calcareous Value
Total: $8.6 million (-9.5%)
Sector leader: Italy @ $1.6 million (-3.2%)
Backfill: Of the top 10 exporting countries sending other calcareous to the United States, only two showed an increase from May 2009; Portugal’s $975,119 (12.0%) and Egypt’s $232,685 (41.7%). Falling hardest is Spain, with its $626.944 showing a 30.7% decline.

Slate Value
Total: $4.9 million (-14.3%)
Sector leader: India @ $2.1 million (15.4%)
Backfill: China continues its huge backslide with slate; May 2010’s $2 million represents a 33.4% drop from the previous May. Market leader India shows a good gain from May 2009, but it’s $60,000 less than April 2010 totals.

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