StatWatch: U.S. Stone Imports, March 2011
OTHER STONE VALUE
Total: $12.3 million (-23.8%)
Sector leader: India @ $4.5 million (-17.4%)
Backfill: This omnibus (i.e., “what’s left”) category used to be so moribund that it didn’t seem worth tracking. Now it’s an up-and-down journey, and this month’s it’s down. All the million-dollar-plus importers take the fall: Brazil (-51.0%), China (-20.3%), Canada (-42.6%) and Italy (-1.7%, and enough to knock it down to under $1 million).
OTHER STONE VOLUME
Total: 14,909 metric tons (-25.56%)
Sector leader: India @ 5,595 metric tons (-19.2%)
Backfill: When the top three importing countries to the United States fall off in shipments, the whole category’s going to slump. Brazil’s 2,867 metric tons (-57.0% from last March) is the worst since 2009; China also fall by 11.6 % to 1,538 metric tons. Turkey, at 1,284 metric tons, manages to far surpass last March – which isn’t hard, given the paltry 113 metric tons from a year ago.