Port-of-Entry

The General View: U.S. hard-surface imports moved at a slow crawl in July, with the $448.6 million in customs value topping this June by only 1.9%. July's value is 16.7% behind the same time a year ago.

The Expected: With an overall decline in value from last year, volume for most imports declined by roughly the same rate. That’s the sign of a continued easing of the market from the explosive post-pandemic growth that started in mid-2020. It’s a situation of not-so-bad news of supply closely following demand, instead of cutting prices and selling more material at a loss.

The Unexpected: Quartz-slab value/volume increases in the past two years usually made the news as part of The Expected, so a major decrease should appear in this segment. And July certainly fits the bill, with the sector’s $119 million showing a 9.5% loss from June and a stunning 22.4% fall from a year ago. And, compared to pre-COVID 2019, this July is only up by 1.8%.

The Strange: Other Calcareous earns the honor of the least-losing sector for July 2023, with the $10.8 million in value down by only 7.7% in year-over-year comparison. The volume of 13,017 metric tons is only down 1.1% from the same time in 2022.

Next Month: Shipment patterns in 2023 continue, for the most part, to mirror activity of 2021 and 2022 … but at levels 15% to 20% off those peak years. Hopefully, it’s a sign that the market is settling into a regular mode. The term “new normal” is way overworked, but you may be seeing it in action for U.S. hard surfaces.