Industry Research | Stone Industry Development Trend from Import and Export Annual Data

2023-03-29

In 2022, in the face of multiple pressures such as the continued downturn in the real estate industry, intensified competition in the domestic market, declining international market demand, and repeated epidemics, stone imports and exports fell by 19.7 and 11.7 percent, respectively.

From the perspective of product segmentation, the high-quality development trend of the stone industry is becoming more and more obvious. On the one hand, the demand for high-end imported stone continues to grow. Among them, the average price of stone imports from Italy and Brazil has increased by more than 70% in five years; on the other hand, the structure of export stone products has been continuously optimized, and the average export price and value of goods have continued to increase.

Trend chart of stone import and export from 2018 to 2022

High-end imported stone demand growth

In 2022, stone imports were 10.98 million tons, down 19.7 percent year-on-year. The value of imports was about $2.42 billion, down 19.2 per cent year-on-year. Among them, the quantity and value of imported waste and wool board accounted for 97.5 and 96.6, respectively.

Marble (including travertine) blocks and wool board account for about 41.1 per cent of total imports and 50.3 per cent of the value of imports; granite blocks and wool board account for about 50.7 per cent of total imports and 39.7 per cent of the value of imports. Compared with marble, granite and other commodities, minority stone imports against the trend of growth. Among them, quartz stone imports and imports increased by 31.9 and 17.8, respectively, and slate increased by 26.9 and 96.6, respectively.

The import volume of stone products (deep-processed products) accounted for 1.3, down 0.3 percentage points from the previous year; the value of goods accounted for 3.1, 0.4 percentage points higher than the previous year. The proportion of artificial stone products in the value of products is 28.6 and 51.5, respectively.

In 2022, India, Turkey, Italy, Brazil, Portugal, Iran, Angola, Greece, and Cambodia will be my country's main sources of imported stone. Imports from the nine countries together accounted for 84.6 of the total stone imports and 84.9 of the value of imports.%.

It is noteworthy that stone imports from Angola and Cambodia bucked the trend; among them, imports from Angola increased by 135.7, and imports from Cambodia increased by 102.7.

In addition, although the import volume of stone from Italy and Brazil has declined, the average import price has continued to rise. The cumulative increase in the average import price in the past five years is 73.7 and 74.4 respectively.

export product structure optimization

In 2022, stone exports were 7.48 million tons, down 11.7 percent year-on-year; exports were worth $7.7 billion billion, up 22.8 percent year-on-year. Among them, deep processing and products accounted for 86.8 per cent of total exports, accounting for 98.2 per cent of the value of exports; artificial stone products accounted for 14.4 per cent and 12.3 per cent of the volume and value of exports of deep processing and products.

The export volume of marble products decreased by 4.3 percent year-on-year, and the export value increased by 19.3 percent year-on-year, accounting for 10.6 percent and 21.4 percent of stone exports respectively. The export volume of granite products decreased by 5.4 year-on-year, and the export value increased by 38.1 year-on-year, accounting for 50.8 and 53.0 respectively in stone exports. Other stone products fell 15.9 percent and 0.5 percent year-on-year, and their share in stone exports was 25.3 percent and 23.8 percent, respectively.

Judging from the number of continents, the Asian market accounts for 66.3 percent of China's stone export market, the European market accounts for 15 percent, the American market accounts for 13.8 percent, the Oceania market accounts for 3.3 percent, and the African market accounts for 1.7 percent.

In terms of export destinations, in 2022, China's stone exports to 205 countries and regions around the world, of which the total number of exports to the top 30 destination countries and regions accounted for 90.5 of the total export value, and the total value of goods accounted for 91.7 of the total export value.

2023 is the first year to fully implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. The Central Economic Work Conference emphasized that "it is necessary to better coordinate the effective improvement of economic quality and the reasonable growth of quantity, insist on winning by quality, and achieve qualitative changes through the accumulation of quantitative changes".

With the comprehensive green transformation of China's economic and social development and the continuous upgrading of the concept of green consumption, the natural advantages of stone products will be more prominent, while meeting the growing needs of the people for a better life, stone will also usher in new market development opportunities. The participation and popularity of Chinese stone enterprises in major projects at home and abroad have been further enhanced, and they are constantly advancing in the journey from big to strong.

The China Stone Association will actively play a leading role in the industry, and work with companies in formulating green product standards, carrying out green product certification, expanding industry publicity, guiding consumer awareness, and improving service levels to build a stone service brand and improve the design and application of stone. Level; continue to strengthen international exchanges and cooperation, build an overseas market expansion platform, and help companies develop markets in countries along the "Belt and Road, create a stone business card made in China with high-quality products and services, and promote Chinese technology and Chinese equipment to" go global ".