Negative trend for exports of Italian marble and granite

In the first nine months of 2009 Italy exported 2.041.000 tons of marble and granite, stone and travertine, including raw materials and finished products, for a value of one billion and thirteen million Euros, thereby recording a -14,5% drop in quantity and a -21,3% drop in value compared to the same period in 2008. These figures are published by the Internazionale Marmi e Macchine Carrara that has processed the Istat statistics, comparing them to its records and drawing up tables for the individual items.

"These are of course incomplete figures as we are still waiting for the end of year figures – commented Giorgio Bianchini, IMM Chairman – and, although they are not very comforting, since the fall in exports in the industry continues, especially on a national level, we are no longer faced with a sharp fall; figures do in fact seem to have settled and even show a slight recovery since the absolute drop in percentage terms is lower than the period from January to June 2009. A situation that seems to have encouraged companies in the industry to take part in the next CarraraMarmotec to be held from 19 to 22 May for which we are registering a large number of participants who are all expecting to see a reverse trend on the international markets".

The uncertain prospects and the general drop in orders adversely affect the supplies of raw materials and the statistics for imports in the industry (again for the period January-September 2009) confirm imports of 1.232.000 tons for a value of 275 million Euros, showing a drop of -31,8% in quantity and – 29,7% in value.

Looking in detail at the export figures, there is a significant drop to North America where, compared to 2006 exports, the 2009 figures show a decrease of over 60% in value, even if the current euro-dollar exchange rate distorts the comparison somewhat. In terms of volume, however, the assessment is even worse.

There is a decrease in exports to the European Union too, but to a much lesser extent than in North America, with Germany, the "traditional client" recording a -17, 2% on value. Exports were down to the Russian Federation too where the trend had been interesting, while the growth, albeit modest, for the minor countries in the Caucasian area is consoling.

There are however positive areas for exports such as Southern Africa, which shows positive figures in terms of volume and value, and the Far East and in particular China that imports raw materials and semi-finished products in marble in particular as well as both marble and granite finished products. The figures for this segment are still modest though if compared to the potential size of the market. India, on the other hand, recorded a decrease in volume, especially in terms of finished granite products, yet overall it held its ground, whereas the Middle East showed positive results in terms of value and slightly negative in terms of volume, especially as regards finished granite products, yet on the whole it fared fairly well with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Emirates. To this regard it should be remembered that the figures refer to September when the Dubai crisis was already well-known, at least in the industry even if it had not formally been exposed.

Import-exports for the Tuscany-Liguria area - Comparison with the Veneto area

The area, that includes the provinces of La Spezia, Lucca and Massa Carrara, seems to be holding out fairly well (despite negative figures compared to the same period for the previous year) compared to the national figures and in terms of the most important items that include marble, travertine and stone, both raw materials and finished products, recording overall exports of 743000 tons for a value of 316 million Euros, that is a 7,4% decrease in quantity and a 13% decrease in value: a much smaller decrease than the 21% national decrease and the 26,6% decrease recorded by the Verona-Vicenza area.

Of much significance for the Tuscan figure are marble block exports that account for 24% of the total (practically a quarter of the figure). This shows that there is the risk of being known as a "mining" district rather than a processing district if policies are not enacted to support the processing companies related to the stone industry in the near future. Employment in the industry is in fact being reduced compared to just a few years ago, especially in the processing companies.

As regards the markets where companies in the Tuscany-Liguria area operate, exports to the European Union decreased as did those to the USA, although to a lesser extent than on a national scale ( - 30.2%% in Tuscany and -46,3% on a national scale).

Exports to the Middle East dropped too even though this did not apply to Saudi Arabia (nationwide), while positive results were recorded as regards exports to Qatar, the Emirates and in the Far East, above all to China: the Tuscan area accounts for over 54% of national exports to China which includes for the most part raw marble and semi-processed marble products.

There are also positive results for companies based in La Spezia, Lucca and Massa Carrara as regards exports to North Africa, with the exception of Morocco and, in terms of value, Tunisia too.

As already mentioned we do not have the end of year figures, that are anyway unlikely to show any significant changes in trends, but there is still a marked specialisation in the two main production areas for the main products in the industry, with Veneto dealing mostly with Europe in general and Tuscany that is much stronger on the other markets, although they do continue to share trade in North America and partially in the Middle East too.

The prevailing economic climate has led to a drop in imports of raw materials: in the period in question the Tuscan companies imported 194 thousand tons of material, above all raw materials, for a value of over fifty million Euros, showing a reduction in quantity ( -36%) and in value (-35,9%), and particularly high reductions for granite blocks where import figures were recorded of -41,8% in terms of quantity and -39% in terms of value of imports compared to the same period of the previous year that was already suffering from the adverse economic climate.

Indirect evidence of this is also that it is mostly the "characteristic resources" such as white marble that kept companies strong on the markets and kept up the competitiveness of the area’s stone industry.

In this picture only the Far East, considered as a macro area, limits the reduction, especially thanks to trade with China, since even imports from India fell considerably as did Brazil's and South America's too.

The Venetian area proved to be more stable, with import figures that dropped less: over 330 thousand tons for a value of 8.380.000 Euros, showing a -30, 5% in quantity and a -25, 6% in value, yet the figures should be considered taking into account the fact that the Tuscan companies tend more to work with materials from the Apuan Alps.