Port-of-Entry

The General View: The $440.4 million in customs value for U.S. hard-surface imports during August declined by 1.8% from July; that’s typical for mid-summer shipments. Compared with August 2022, however, it’s a whopping decline of nearly 26%.

The Expected: With that kind of year-over-year decline, it’s hard to pick out anything that fits the definition of “expected.” Maybe it’s the effective balance of declines in shipments and values for most of the sectors, signaling a quieter and stable market.

The Unexpected: Marble imports took a terrible beating in August, dropping 33.2% in value and 40.7% in volume from the same time last year. The steep slope comes mainly from Turkey, where year-over-year shipments plunged by more than half, but other large players – including Italy, Brazil, and Greece – also fell more than 30% in volume. Maybe it’s an odd coincidence, or maybe the natural-marble demand is fading.

The Strange: Non-roofing slate bucked the trend by increasing shipment volume from August 2022 by 5%, although that’s due primarily to a one-time surge in exports by India. The sector’s value dropped by a respectable (in this market) 4.3%, mainly due to an almost 30% decline by China.

Next Month: The numbers in U.S. hard-surface imports are tough sledding at the moment, as 2023 looks terrible next to a booming 2022. The large-volume, high-dollar market began to shift midway through last year’s third quarter, so the next few months may give a better indication of whether business will find its new level or continue to slow down.