After two years of sustained growth (+20.8% in 2021 and +13.1% in 2022), last year Italy’s overall exports of marbles, granites and other natural stones underwent a downturn of 2.8% from 2022, while still remaining above the 2-billion-euro mark (2,070 million).
In a context characterized by a slowdown in stone trading globally, the data processed by the CONFINDUSTRIA MARMOMACCHINE Studies Center in any case show a holding pattern for the Italian stone industry – with a “physiological” reaction after the record-breaking exports in 2022 – which seems confirmed by the initial statistical projections for 2024.
Analyzing export composition, finished and semi-finished stone products accounted for 80% of the total, with revenue of 1,658 million (down 4.2% from 2022), with sales of raw stone amounting to worth of 412 million (-1%).
As for destination markets, for raw blocks China was again in the lead, with imports worth 180 million (+2.7%), followed by India with 54.6 million (+7.8%). For finished stone products, the top buyer in 2023 was still the United States – although purchasing 7.1% less – with imports worth 475.7 million.
Germany was in second place with 140.6 million (-6.7%) and France in third with 107.8 million (+5.5%). Switzerland showed a slight downturn (-2%, with 101.8 million), while the United Arab Emirates rose to fifth place among reference markets for stone products Made in Italy (+24.2%, with 62.8 million), overtaking Saudi Arabia (-9.4%, with 61.6 million) and the United Kingdom (+0.6%, with 59.7 million).
Comments are closed.