StatWatch: Volume Up,Value Down for April Quartz Imports

June 27, 2012

Imports of quartz surfaces send mixed signals in April, with overall values declining from last year while product shipments increase.

The $13.0 million of quartz slabs hitting U.S. ports-of-entry in April represents a 14.9% decline from the same time last year.

Spain’s $4.4 million leads the pack, although that’s down 19.6% from last April. Israel, meanwhile, moves closer to the top with a 23.3% increase to $4.2 million; fourth-place China shows a 29.6% increase to $1.0 million, while Canada dips 43.8% to $1.5 million (which may be reflective of panel production shifting to new U.S. operations).

U.S. Quartz Slab Imports – Value
(U.S. dollars)

	Apr-12	Apr-11	Change
Spain	$4,467,876	$5,560,294	-19.6%
Israel	$4,136,990	$3,353,914	23.3%
Canada	$1,534,766	$2,728,829	-43.8%
China	$1,038,584	$801,277	29.6%
Italy	$891,341	$1,229,684	-27.5%
India	$441,985	$522,494	-15.4%
Vietnam	$161,926	$201,691	-19.7%
Portugal	$132,157	$66,396	99.0%
Belgium	$97,634	$723,785	-86.5%
Korea	$61,316	$47,581	28.9%
Czech Republic	$30,267	$0	N/A
Brazil	$17,702	$19,499	-9.2%

Total	$13,012,544	$15,294,347	-14.9%

Source: U.S. International Trade Commission, Stone Update* analysis*

Values didn’t follow volume, as the 1.4 million ft² shipped to the United States this April shows a year-to-year gain of 5.3%. Spain again leads with 492,664 ft² — a 3.6% increase – but Israel moves up 110.5% to 477,304 ft² . China also clocks a 26.7% gain to 149,371 ft², while Canada’s 128,230 ft² represents a 33.7% decline.

U.S. Quartz Slab Imports – Volume
(square feet)

	Apr-12	Apr-11	Change
Spain	492,664	475,635	3.6%
Israel	477,304	226,752	110.5%
China	149,371	117,886	26.7%
Canada	128,230	193,503	-33.7%
India	55,692	45,305	22.9%
Italy	51,882	114,216	-54.6%
Vietnam	18,083	26,016	-30.5%
Portugal	15,048	6,405	135.0%
Belgium	9,957	128,360	-92.2%
Korea	7,718	5,264	46.6%
Czech Republic	4,176	0	N/A
Brazil	775	850	-8.9%

Total	1,410,900	1,340,192	5.3%

Source: U.S. International Trade Commission, Stone Update* analysis*

StatWatch is a snapshot of U.S. dimensional-stone and hard-surfaces imports, offering a summary and exclusive Stone Update analysis of data from the U.S. International Trade Commission. Comparisons are made mainly to gauge market trends. Analysis is made on import figures of the latest month available.

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