Spain is the 13th largest economy in the world by nominal GDP and the fourth largest in the eurozone, post- Brexit. The country has suffered a long recessionary period since 2008 and is slowly returning to previous economic situation based mainly on tourism and exports.
Rough marble under four-digit 2515 HS tariff code represented almost 0.71% of Spain’s total exports while finished marble products under four-digit 6802 HS tariff code represented 6.1%, according to 2017 statistical data of the Observatory of Economic Complexity. China absorbs almost 50% of marble blocks and slabs exports and Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar follow. The United States is the main destination of Spain’s finished marble products, while Morocco, UAE and Turkey come next.
The constantly escalating US-China trade war has affected natural stone industry in general and Spain could not be an exception. As all countries whose marble exports are mostly dependable on China, Spain followed an overall downward trend last year compared to 2017, both in value and quantity of exports. But how has Spain’s growth changed during the first half of 2019 comparing to the corresponding 2018 first half both in marble blocks and slabs and finished marble products exports?
Marble blocks and slabs exports value of Spain presented overall negative growth rates during the first half of 2019. June suffered the greatest loss of -33.69%, followed closely by May with -31.39% and January with -30.24% growth. The minus sign is also dominant in quantity of Spain’s marble blocks and slabs exports, with the exception of March 2019, which closed with a 6.8% increase compared to the same month of 2018.
Finished marble products exports of Spain slip also into negative growth rates during the first half of 2019 both in value and quantity of exports. March was the month with the largest decrease in export value, followed by June. The exact opposite can be noted for quantity of Spain’s finished marble products exports, as June was the month with the greatest decrease followed by March.
It is worth mentioning that during the first half of 2019, Spain managed to export marble blocks and slabs of 33.49 million euros worth as well as finished marble products of 81.05 million euros.
*Due to consistent data flow, statistics may alter during the year
