StatWatch: November 2010

January 22, 2011

WORKED MARBLE VALUE
Total: $15.8 million (-1.3%)
Sector leader: Italy @ $8.4 million (9.3%)

Backfill: November would look a lot lousier if Italy hadn’t picked up from a bad October, when it dipped to $4.8 million. Of the three other countries that posted import values of more than $1 million, only one shows a gain from November 2009: Spain, up 13.9 percent at $1.4 million.

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China, meanwhile, shuffles down 10.6 percent to $2.8 million, and Turkey slips 8.8 percent to $1.3 million. Farther down the import chain, Greece’s $398,171 makes a bang-up gain of 109.9 percent from November 2009, while Brazil jumps 131.3% with its $146,265. Israel takes the largest hit, with its $133,663 cutting a 44.4-percent decline.

WORKED MARBLE VOLUME
Total: 12,957 metric tons (-0.3%)
Sector leader: Italy @ 4,420 metric tons (18.1%)

Backfill: Italy stretches out its lead on China for number-one in U.S. worked-marble import tonnage; it’s the first time since April 2009 that Italy’s held the top spot for two months in a row. China, meanwhile, drops 17.6 percent from November 2009 totals with its 3,404 metric tons.

Admittedly, 0.3 percent isn’t much of an overall monthly gain from the same time in 2009, but any good news is welcome news. The other two major exporters to the United States help to keep the positive trend afloat: Turkey with 1,858 metric tons (+6.1 percent) and Spain’s 1,631 metric tons (+23.5 percent).

TRAVERTINE VALUE
Total: $19.0 million (5.2%)
Sector leader: Turkey @ $12.0 million (3.0%)

Backfill: With one exception, the major exporters to the United States made some peppy gains from November 2009, as Italy’s $1.2 million shows a 13.9-percent gain, and Peru makes a 30.1-percent jump with $890,450. China does even better, climbing 54.2-percent from November 2009 with $739,932.

The downer is with Mexico, although its $3.6 million only trails November 2009 totals by 1.4 percent. And while China’s November figures easily outpace the same time in 2009, the numbers also represent a major drop from October 2010’s $1.5 million.