China: Granite VS Marble Imports- Which Was in the Driver’s Seat in 2018?

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Change of scene on China’s marble and granite blocks and slabs imports in 2018

Stonenews.eu, after studying the statistical results of the International Trade Centre, the UN Comtrade and the National Statistical Institutes, is presenting the changes in China’s imports of marble and granite blocks and slabs in 2018 compared to 2017.

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China is the world’s largest importer of marble and granite blocks and slabs. These imports have been on the rise for the past decade. Typically, between 2009 and 2018, the import value of marble and granite blocks and slabs grew by approximately 80%.

According to the statistics of 2018, China’s imports of marble blocks and slabs had a significant decrease, opposite to granite, which rose compared to 2017.

In the following table we can see the changes in China’s marble and granite blocks and slabs imports between 2017 and 2018.

As shown at the table, imports of marble blocks and slabs declined slightly in value, quantity and price per tonne, while granite’s grew almost marginally in all three categories.

As far as marble is concerned, the decrease is found in imports from almost all the main suppliers of China, with the exception of Greece and Portugal.

Details of Chinese imports will be published in our next listings.

* Due to consistent data flow, statistics may alter during the year

**The statistics are derived by the HS Codes below (Harmonized System Codes):

251511: Marble and travertine, crude or roughly trimmed

251512: Marble and travertine, merely cut, by sawing or otherwise, into blocks or slabs of a square or rectangular shape

251611: Granite, crude or roughly trimmed (excluding already with the characteristics of setts, curbstones and flagstones)

251612: Granite, merely cut, by sawing or otherwise, into blocks or slabs of a square or rectangular shape (excluding already with the characteristics of setts, curbstones and flagstones)

Source: Stonenews.eu, ITC, UN Comtrade