Portugal is among the top marble exporters in the world. The country produces and exports both marble in blocks and slabs and finished marble products, having an important natural stone processing base. Was the Portuguese marble sector hit by the coronavirus global spread and if so, at what extent?
Stonenews.eu, after collecting, studying and editing the statistical data provided by the ITC and Eurostat, is presenting Portugal’s marble products exports growth in the 1st quarter of 2020, compared with last year’s same quarter as well as the exactly previous quarter in 2019, both in value and quantity of exports.
Portugal’s marble exports have been severely hit in the 1st quarter of 2020 in comparison with the same quarter in 2019. More specifically, marble blocks and slabs exports suffered a major decrease both in value and quantity of exports, surpassing a 60% decline in the case of the exported quantity. Downward trend for Portugal’s finished marble products export value as well, although the quantity of exports increased by 20%, leading to a much lower price per tonne than last year.
Negative growth is common in marble blocks and slabs as well as finished marble products export value and quantity, when the comparison is made with the last quarter of 2019, the exactly previous of the one of the reference. The decline though is much smaller in all cases. It is worth mentioning that in the 1st quarter of 2020, Portugal exported marble blocks and slabs of $6.47 million worth and finished marble products of $17.8 million worth.
*Due to consistent data flow, statistics may alter during the year
