Get an overview of China's stone market in 2012 from Thinkrealstone

1. Stone industry expert
www.thinkrealstone.com 1 info@thinkrealstone.com
Overview of China stone industry in 2012
So far, China stone industry is under pincer attack from economic downturn in overseas market
and the strict macro-economic control at home. Although most of domestic stone enterprises still
witness stable growth of their business, the growth rate is much lower than the high growth
speed in the past. In addition to the fast growth in production, the growth rate of their revenue,
profit, investment, import and export volume and value have shown obvious decrease since 2012.
Output
According to China Stone Material Association (CSMA), the total slab output of domestic above-
scale enterprises in 2012 reached 541.02 million m2
, up 27.70% over that in 2011, including
127.81 million m2
of marble slab output and 413.21 million m2
of granite slab, up 31.10% and
26.7% YoY. Growth rate of the output of these two kinds of stone slab increased by 1.9% and 9.9%
respectively.
Revenue and profit
Total revenue of domestic above-scale enterprises in 2012 reached 44.91 billion, up 23.70% YoY
and growth rate down 12.30% YoY. Total profit of these enterprises in 2012 reached USD3.75
billion, up 30.50% YoY and growth rate down 10.50% YoY.
Total revenue of domestic above-scale stone mining enterprises in 2012 reached USD9.22 billion,
up 23.5% YoY and growth rate down 17.00% YoY. Total profit of these enterprises in this period
reached USD694.39 million, up 38.30% YoY and growth rate down 11.80% YoY. Total revenue of
domestic above-scale stone processing enterprises in 2012 reached USD35.69 billion, up 23.80%
YoY and growth rate down 10.90%. Total profit of these enterprises in this period reached
USD3.07 billion, up 28.90% YoY and growth rate down 10.00% YoY.
Investment
In 2012, total investment in building stone mining and processing surged by 23.80% over 2011,
reaching USD19.99 billion, but the growth rate decreased by 21.30% YoY. Investment in building
stone mining and stone processing reached USD6.33 billion and USD13.66, up 25.80% and
22.90% YoY and growth rate down 13.60% and 24.90% respectively.
Import and export
Compared to domestic stone market, the export of domestic stones has witnessed a rare
decrease in the growth rate of export volume and value in 2012.
TABLE: The import and export data of domestic stone industry, 2012

2. Stone industry expert
www.thinkrealstone.com 2 info@thinkrealstone.com
Volume, million
tonnes
YoY, % Growth
rate, %
Value,
billion USD
YoY, % Growth
rate, %
Import & Export 37.72 1.40 -8.50 8.06 5.5 -14.1
Export 24.07 0.20 -10.90 5.37 4.70 -17.50
Import 13.65 3.7 -3.2 2.69 7.2 -3.8
Source: CSMA
In 2012, China’s main stone imports originating countries were Turkey, India, Egypt, Brazil, Spain,
Italy and Iran. Total import volume and value from these countries accounted for 80% and 79% of
the China’s total import volume and value in 2012.
TABLE: Import volume and value growth rate, price and import value proportion of stones
imported from China’s main stone imports originating countries, 2012
Country Import volume
growth, %
Import value
growth, %
Price, USD/t Import value
proportion, %
Turkey 3.50 15.40 213 28.3
India 19.00 16.80 172 17.2
Egypt -0.70 10.30 122 8.5
Brazil 6.60 7.90 257 7.9
Spain -6.80 -8.90 221 6.5
Italy 0.00 7.90 328 6.4
Iran 2.50 8.20 193 4.1
Source: CSMA
Although the export situation of domestic stone industry is still not optimistic, the market
demand in some areas in Africa, Oceania and Central Asia witness growth. Export value of
domestic stones to these areas increased by 65.7%，17.2% and 32.5% respectively. Total export
value to these areas accounted for 7.2% of the China’s total stone export value in 2012.
While entering 2013, the slide situation of domestic stone export volume continues. Total export
volume in Jan. to April 2013 reached 6.84 million tonnes, down 11.30% over the same period of
2012. However, the export value in this period enjoyed a large growth, reaching USD1.79 billion,
up 20.3% over the same period of 2012.
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