Italian Marble Exports Up in First-Half ‘13

CARRARA, Italy — Italian exports of stone materials continue a positive trend in the first half of 2013, according to an analysis by the research department of the Internazionale Marmi e Macchine (IMM) Carrara.

The analysis,  based on statistics from Italy’s Istituto nazionale di statistica (Istat), shows that the country exported 2.1 metric tons of stone materials in the first six months of this year, for a total value of €923.4 million – moving up from the same time in 2012 in both quantity (+2%) and value (+7.2%).

Click for full chartThe increase in value of Italian exports is due in particular to the North American market which, during the period, absorbed 127,321 metric tons of quality materials valued at €194.7 million, showing a growth trend of 21.4% in quantity and 27.4% in value. The average unit value of exports grew by 5% to €1,529 Euros per metric ton.

The main growth is in exports of marble, both raw materials and finished products. In the first half of the year, Italy exported 699,000 metric tons of marble blocks and slabs at a value of €158.7 million, beating 2012 by 6.4% in quantity and 10.6% in value. Exports of finished marble products also look good in first half ’13, with more than 451,000 metric tons at value of almost €423.4 million and an increase, compared to the same period in 2012, both in quantity (4.5%) and value (10.4%).

“It is clear that Italian companies have managed to see and act on the recovery of some markets like North America where, in addition to traditional, consolidated relations, companies have shown their ability to supply high and very high quality products,” says IMM Carrara Chairman Fabio Felici. “However, the trend does not apply to all goods in the industry and all markets, since the national economies have different speeds and, in some areas, there are still no signs of recovery of the economy.

“Moreover, it should be recalled that the national market has, for some time, been suffering because of the standstill in the building industry that represents the natural stone markets.”

Exports of granite blocks and slabs, which have been falling for some years now, amounted to 74,000 metric tons (-5%) in the first six months of 2013 for a total value of slightly more than €20 million; the export of 282,000 metric tons in processed granite, show an increase of nearly +4% in value at €269.4 million.

IMM Carrara also noted that for the entire year of 2006, the sector exported 189,000 metric tons of granite slabs and blocks for €49 million  and 943,754 metric tons of finished granite products at value of €811 million (as reported by Stone Sector 2007, edited by IMM).

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