First-quarter (1Q) 2010 U.S. imports of granite slabs, tiles and other dimensional products increased by more than 45 percent from the same period last year.

The amount of “"worked" granite brought into this country came to 272,428 metric tons for the first three months of this year, according to an exclusive Stone Business analysis of data from the U.S. International Trade Commission. That’s a leap of 47.2 percent from the first quarter of 2009.

Part of the large increase came from a revival of India's exports to the United States, which hit a low of 24,750 metric tons in 1Q 2009. During the same period this year, India shipped 77,223 metric tons, an increase of 212 percent.

The huge lift also came as a result of 1Q 2009's depressed market, as imports dropped to some of the lowest quarterly levels in a decade.

Nonetheless, Brazil made the strongest showing in 1Q 2010 at U.S. ports-of-entry, with its 82,456 metric tons of worked granite noting a 31-percent hike from the first three months of last year. China, with 79,281 metric tons shipped to the United States, gained 15.9 percent from 1Q 2009 totals.

Worked marble imports in 1Q 2010 were less spectacular with a total 38,152 metric tons, but that represented a respectable 4.1-percent increase from 1Q 2009. China boosted its quarterly exports to the United States by 35.8 percent with 13,917 metric tons; Italy, meanwhile, dropped 21 percent from 1Q 2009 with 8,424 metric tons in the first three months of this year.

Travertine also pushed forward in 1Q 2010 with U.S. imports of 100,094 metric tons, up 4.3 percent from the same period last year. Turkey – the dominant country in the U.S. travertine market – increased its U.S.-bound stone by 12.1 percent to 80,719 metric tons in 1Q 2010.

The increase in tonnage, with several stone varieties, conversely came with lower U.S. import values in 1Q 2010. The $40.3 million in worked marble represented an eight-percent decline from 1Q 2009, while travertine fell 3.7 percent to $57.9 million.

Worked granite's U.S. import value of $178.4 million for 1Q 2010 came as a positive move from the first three months of last year, but at a lower rate – 12.7 percent – than the jump in tonnage.

Overall U.S. import values for stone – including all granite and marble, travertine, other calcareous, slate and the omnibus "other" stone – totaled $398.7 million for 1Q 2010, a gain of only 1.6 percent from the first three months of 2009.